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A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 


"  Amongst  Frenchmen  Claude  is  the  best  landscape  etcher  of  past  days,  and  Lalannc 
the  best  of  the  present  day."  —  P.  G.  Hamerton. 


A   TREATISE 


ON 


ETCHING. 

TEXT     AND     PLATES 


BY 

MAXIME    LALANNE. 


AUTHORIZED    AMERICAN    EDITION,    TRANSLATED    FROM 
THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EDITION 

BY 

S.    R.    KOEHLER. 

WITH    AN    INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER    AND    NOTES    BY    THE 
TRANSLATOR. 


BOSTON 
THE    PAGE   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright, 

By  Estes  and  Lauriat. 

1880. 


TRANSLATOR'S    PREFACE. 


So  much  interest  has  of  late  years  been  shown  in  England  in 
the  art  of  etching,  that  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  apologize  for 
bringing  out  an  English  edition  of  a  work  on  the  subject  from  the 
pen  of  an  artist  whom  a  weighty  EngHsh  authority  has  pronounced 
to  be  the  best  French  landscape-etcher  of  the  day.  It  might  be 
urged,  indeed,  that  more  than  enough  has  already  been  written 
concerning  the  technical  as  well  as  the  aesthetic  side  of  etching. 
But  this  objection  is  sufficiently  met  by  the  statement  of  the  fact 
that  there  is  no  other  work  of  the  kind  in  which  the  processes 
involved  are  described  in  so  plain  and  lucid  a  manner  as  in  M. 
Lalanne's  admirable  "  Traité  de  la  Gravure  à  V Eau-forteT  In  the 
laudable  endeavor  to  be  complete,  most  of  the  similar  books  now 
extant  err  in  loading  down  the  subject  with  a  complicated  mass 
of  detail  which  is  more  apt  to  frighten  the  beginner  than  to  aid 
him.  M.  Lalanne's  Treatise,  on  the  contrary,  is  as  simple  as  a 
good  work  of  art. 

It  may,  however,  be  incumbent  upon  me  to  offer  a  few  words  of 
excuse  concerning  my  own  connection  with  the  bringing  out  of 
this  translation  ;  for,  at  first  sight,  it  will,  no  doubt,  appear  the 
height  of  presumption,  especially  on  the  part  of  one  who  is  not 
himself  a  practising  artist,  to  add  an  introductory  chapter  and 
notes  to  the  work  of  a  consummate  master  on  his  favorite  art. 
But  what  I  have  done  has  not,  in  any  way,  been  dictated  by  the 
spirit  of  presumption.  The  reasons  which  induced  me  to  make 
the  additions  may  be  stated  as  follows. 


31)2254 


VI  TRANSLATOR'S    PREFACE. 

It  is  a  most  difificult  feat  for  one  who  has  thoroughly  mastered 
an  accomplishment,  and  has  practised  it  successfully  for  a  lifetime, 
to  lower  himself  to  the  level  of  those  who  are  absolutely  unin- 
formed. A  master  is  apt  to  forget  that  he  himself  had  to  learn 
certain  things  which,  to  him,  seem  to  be  self-evident,  and  he  there- 
fore takes  it  for  granted  that  they  arc  self-evident.  A  practised 
etcher  thinks  nothing  of  handling  his  acid,  grounding  and  smoking 
his  plate,  and  all  the  other  little  tricks  of  the  craft  which,  to  a 
beginner,  are  quite  worrying  and  exciting.  It  seemed  to  me  best, 
therefore,  to  acquaint  the  student  with  these  purely  technical  diffi- 
culties, without  complicating  his  first  attempts  by  artistic  consid- 
erations, and  hence  the  origin  of  the  "  Introductory  Chapter." 
Very  naturally  I  was  compelled,  in  this  chapter,  to  go  over  much 
of  the  ground  covered  by  the  Treatise  itself  But  the  diligent 
student,  who  remembers  that  "Repetition  is  the  mother. of  learn- 
ing," will  not  look  upon  the  time  thus  occupied  as  wasted. 

The  notes  are,  perhaps,  still  more  easily  explained.  M.  Lalanne 
very  rarely  stops  to  inform  his  reader  how  the  various  requisites 
may  be  made.  Writing,  as  he  did,  at  and  for  Paris,  there  was, 
indeed,  no  reason  for  thus  encumbering  his  book  ;  for  in  Paris  the 
Veuve  Cadart  is  always  ready  to  supply  all  the  wants  of  the  etcher. 
For  a  London  reader,  Mr.  Charles  Roberson,  of  99  Long  Acre, 
whom  Mr.  Hamerton  has  so  well  —  and  very  properly —  advertised, 
is  ready  to  perform  the  same  kind  office.  But  for  those  who  live 
away  from  the  great  centres  of  society,  it  may  oftentimes  be 
necessary  either  to  forego  the  fascinations  of  etching,  or  else  to 
provide  the  materials  with  their  own  hands.  For  the  benefit  of 
such  persons,  I  have  thought  it  advisable  to  describe,  in  the  notes, 
the  simplest  and  cheapest  methods  of  making  the  tools  and  utensils 
which  are  needed  in  the  execution  of  M.  Lalanne's  precepts. 

By  the  arrangement  of  the  paragraphs  which  I  have  ventured 
to  introduce,  M.  Lalanne's  pleasant  little  book  has.  perhaps,  lost 
something  of  its  vivacity  and   freshness,  especially   in    the  fifth 


TRANSLATORS    PREFACE.  vii 

chapter.  But  this  dull,  methodical  order  will  be  found,  I  hope,  to 
add  to  the  convenience  of  the  work  as  a  book  of  reference,  which, 
according  to  M.  Lalanne's  own  statement,  is,  after  all,  its  main 
object. 

It  is  due  to  the  English  public  to  say,  that  the  additions  were 
originally  written  for  the  American  edition  of  this  book,  published 
by  Messrs.  Estes  &  Lauriat,  of  Boston,  Mass.  To  free  them  from 
the  American  character  which  they  very  naturally  bear,  would 
have  necessitated  the  resetting  of  a  great  part  of  the  work,  and  a 
consequent  increase  in  its  cost.  It  has  been  deemed  advisable, 
therefore,  to  leave  the  whole  of  the  text  in  its  original  condition, 
more  especially  as  the  changes  are  such  that  they  can  easily  be 
supplied  by  the  reader,  and  do  not  in  the  least  affect  the  value  of 
the  information  conveyed. 

S.    R.   KOEHLER. 

Beech  Glen  Avenue,  Roxbury,  Boston, 
July,  1880. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Translator's  Preface v 

Introductory  Chapter.  —  The  Technical  Elements  of  Etching    xiii 

Paragraph 

1.  Definition  of  Etching xiii 

2.  Requisites xiv 

3.  Grounding  the  Plate xviii 

4.  Smoking  the  Plate xviii 

5.  Points  or  Needles xix 

6.  Drawing  on  the  Plate xix 

7.  Preparing  the  Plate  for  the  Bath xx 

8.  The  Bath xx 

9.  Biting  and  Stopping  Out xx 

Description  of  the  Plates xxiii 

Letter  by  M.  Charles  Blanc ' xxv 

Introduction  (by  the  Author) i 


CHAPTER   I. 

definition  and  character  of  etching. 

Paragraph 

1.  Definition 3 

2.  Knowledge  needed  by  the  Etcher 3 

3.  Manner  of  using  the  Needle.  —  Character  of  Lines 4 

4.  Freedom  of  Execution 4 

5    How  to  produce  Difference  in  Texture 5 

6.  The  Work  of  the  Acid 5 

7.  The  Use  of  the  Dry  Point 5 

8.  Spirit  in  which  the  Etcher  must  work 5 

9.  Expression  of  Individuality  in  Etching 6 

ID.  Value  of  Etching  to  Artists 6 

II-  Versatility  of  Etching 7 

12.  Etching  compared  to  other  Styles  of  Engraving 7 

13.  Etching  as  a  Reproductive  Art 7 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   II. 

TOOLS   AND    MATERIALS.  —  PREPARING   THE   PLATE. — DRAWING    ON  THE 
PLATE    WITH    THE    NEEDLE. 

PAGE 

14.  Method  of  using  tliis  Manual 9 

A.  Tools  and  Materials. 

15.  List  of  Tools  and  Materials  needed 9 

16.  Quality  and  Condition  of  Tools  and  Materials 10 

B.  Prcpari/i'j;  the  Plate. 

17.  Laying  the  Ground  or  Varnishing 12 

18.  Smoking 13 

C.     Drawiiii^  on  the  Plate  with  the  Needle. 

19.  The  Transparent  Screen 14 

20.  Needles  or  Points 14 

21.  Temjjerature  of  the  Room 15 

22.  The  Tracing 16 

23.  Reversing  the  Design 16 

24.  Use  of  the  Mirror 17 

25.  Precautions  to  be  observed  while  Drawing 17 

26.  Directions  for  Drawing  with  the  Needle 17 

CHAPTER    in. 

BITING. 

27.  Borderin-;  the  Plate 20 

28.  The  Tray 20 

29.  Strength  ot  the  Acid 20 

30.  Label  your  Bottles  ! 21 

31.  The  First  Biting 21 

32.  The  Use  of  the  Feather 22 

33    Stopping  Out 22 

34.  Effect  of  Temperature  on  Biting 22 

35.  Biting  continued 23 

36.  Treatment  of  the  various  Distances 23 

37.  The  Crevcf.   -  Its  Advantages  and  Disadvantages 24 

38.  Means  of  ascertaining  tlie  Deptli  of  the  Lines 24 

39    The  Rules  which   govern  the  Biting  are  subordinated  to  various 

Causes 25 

40.  Strong  A<-id  ami  Weak  Acid 25 

41.  Strength  of  Acid  in  relation  to  certain  Kinds  of  Work 26 

42    Last  Stages  of  Biting ~1 


COxNTENTS.  XI 
CHAPTER    IV. 

FINISHING    THK    PLATE. 

PAGE 

43.  Omissions.  —  Insufficiency  of  the  Work  so  far  done 29 

44.  Transparent  Ground  for  Retouching 29 

45    Ordinary  Ground  used  for  Retouching.  —  Biting  the  Retouches  .     .  30 

46.  Revarnishing  with  the  Brush 31 

47.  Partial  RetouchL-s.  —  Patching 31 

48.  Dry  Point 3- 

49.  Use  of  the  Scraper  for  removing  the  Bur  thrown   up  by  the  Dry 

Point 33 

50.  Reducing  Over-bitten  Passages 33 

51.  The  Burnisher 33 

52.  Charcoal 34 

53    The  Scraper 35 

54.  Hammering  Out  (Repoussage) 35 

55.  Finishing  the  Surface  of  the  Plate 35 


CHAPTER   V. 

ACCIDENTS. 

56.  Stopping-out  Varnish  dropped  on  a  Plate  while  Biting 37 

57.  Revarnishing  with  the  Roller  for  Rebiting 37 

58.  Revarnishing  with  the  Roller  in  Cases  of  Partial  Rebiting      ...  58 

59.  Revarnishing  with  the  Dabber  for  Rebiting 39 

60.  Revarnishing  with  the  Brush  for  Rebiting 39 

61.  Rebiting  a  Remedy  only 39 

62.  Holes  in  the  Ground 39 

63.  Planing  out  Faulty  Passages 40 

64.  Acid  Spots  on  Clothing 41 

65.  Reducing  Over-bitten  Passages  and  Crevés 41 


CHAPTER   VI. 

DIFFERENCE    BETWEEN     FLAT    BITING    AND     BITING    WITH    STOPPING  OUT. 

66.  Two  Kinds  of  Biting 43 

67.  Flat  Biting. — One  Point 44 

68.  Flat  Biting.  —  Several  Points 44 

69.  Biting  with  Stopping  Out.  —  One  Point 44 

70.  Biting  with  Stopping  Out.  —  Several  Points 44 

71.  Necessity  of  Experimenting 45 

72.  Various  other  Metiiods  of  Biting 45 


xu  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

RECOMMENDATIONS    AND     AUXILIARY     PROCESSES.  —  ZINK     AND     STEEL 
PLATES. — VARIOUS   THEORIES. 

A.     Recommendations  and  Auxiliary  Processes. 

PAGE 

T^.  The  Roulette 49 

74.  The  Flat  Point 49 

75.  The  Graver  or  Burin 49 

76.  Sandpaper 50 

77.  Sulphur  Tints 50 

78.  Mottled  Tints 51 

79.  Stopping  Out  before  all  Biting 51 

B.     Zink  Plates  and  Steel  Plates. 

80.  Zink  Plates 52 

81.  Steel  Plates 52 

C.     Various  other  Processes. 

82.  Soft-Ground  Etching 52 

83.  Dry-Point  Etching 53 

84.  The  Pen  Process 54 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PROVING   AND    PRINTING. 

85.  Wax  Proofs 55 

86.  The  Printing-Press 55 

87.  Natural  Printing 56 

88.  Artificial  Printing 56 

89.  Handwiping  with  Retroussage 57 

90.  Tinting  with  a  Stiff  Rag 57 

91.  Wiping  with  the  Rag  only 58 

92.  Limits  of  Artificial  Printing 58 

93.  Printing  Inks 59 

94.  Paper 59 

95.  !  i^reuves  Volantes 60 

9'6.   Proofs  before  Lettering 60 

97.  Epreuves  de  Remarque 60 

98.  Number  of  Impressions  which  a  Plate  is  capable  of  yielding    .     .  60 

99.  Steel-facing 61 

100.  Copper-facing  Zink  Plates 62 

Notes.     By  the  Translator 63 

List  of  Works  on  the  Practice  and  History  of  Etching 75 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER. 

THE  TECHNICAL   ELEMENTS   OF   ETCHING. 

As  explained  in  the  Preface,  this  chapter  has  been  added  to 
enable  the  beginner  to  master  the  most  necessary  technical  ele- 
ments of  etching,  without  complicating  his  first  attempts  by  artistic 
considerations.  Let  him  learn  how  to  use  his  ground,  his  points, 
and  his  acid,  before  he  endeavors  to  employ  these  requisites  in  the 
production  of  a  work  of  art. 


I.  Definition  of  Etching.  —  To  be  able  to  get  an  impression 
on  paper  from  a  metal  plate  in  a  copper-plate  printing-press,  it  is 
necessary  to  sink  the  lines  of  the  design  below  the  surface  of  the 
plate,  so  that  each  line  is  represented  by  a  furrow.  The  plate  is 
then  inked  all  over,  care  being  taken  to  fill  each  furrow,  and  finally 
the  ink  is  cautiously  wiped  away  from  the  surface,  while  the  fur- 
rows are  left  charged  with  it.  A  piece  of  moist  paper  pressed 
against  a  plate  so  prepared,  will  take  the  ink  up  out  of  the  fur- 
rows. The  result  is  an  impression.  In  engraving  proper  these 
furrows  are  cut  into  the  plate  by  mechanical  means  ;  in  etching 
chemical  means  are  used  for  the  same  purpose.  If  nitric  acid  is 
brought  into  contact  with  copper,  the  acid  corrodes  the  metal  and 


xiv  INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

finally  eats  it  up  altogether  ;  if  it  is  brought  into  contact  with 
wax  or  resinous  substances,  no  action  ensues.  Hence,  if  we  cover 
a  copper  plate  with  a  ground  or  varnish  composed  of  wax  and 
resinous  substances,  and  then  draw  lines  upon  this  ground  with  a 
steel  or  iron  style  or  point,  so  that  each  stroke  of  the  point  lavs 
bare  the  copper,  we  shall  have  a  drawing  in  lines  of  copper  (which 
are  affected  by  nitric  acid)  on  a  ground  of  varnish  (which  is  not 
thus  affected).  If  now  we  expose  the  plate  to  the  action  of  nitric 
acid  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  we  shall  find,  upon  the  removal 
of  the  ground  by  means  of  benzine,  that  the  lines  have  been 
bitten  into  the  plate,  so  that  each  line  forms  a  furrow  capable  of 
taking  up  the  ink.  The  depth  and  the  breadth  of  the  lines  depends 
upon  the  thickness  of  the  points  used,  and  upon  the  length  of  time 
allowed  for  biting  ;  or,  in  other  words,  by  varying  the  size  of  the 
points  and  the  time  of  exposure  the  lines  may  also  be  made  to 
vary.     This  is  the  whole  of  the  science  of  etching  in  a  nutshell. 

2.  Requisites.  —  The  following  tools  and  materials  are  the  only 
ones  which  arc  absolutely  necessary  for  a  first  experiment  :  — 

1.  A  Copper  Plate  on  which  to  execute  your  etching.  Do  not 
waste  your  money  on  a  large  plate.  A  visiting-card  plate  is  suf- 
ficiently large.  If  you  happen  to  have  an  engraved  plate  of  that 
kind,  you  can  use  the  back  of  it.  If  you  have  none,  get  one  at  a 
card-engraver's.  The  price  ought  not  ,to  be  over  fifteen  cents.  If 
you  do  not  live  in  any  of  the  large  cities  named  above,  or  cannot 
find  a  card-engraver,  send  fifteen  cents  in  stamps  to  Mr.  Geo.  B. 
Sharp,  45  Gold  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  who  will  forward  a  plate  to 
you  by  mail.  Be  very  particular  in  giving  your  full  and  correct 
post-office  address.  These  plates  only  need  cleaning  to  fit  them  for 
use. 

2.  Benzine,  used  for  cleaning  the  plate,  sold  by  grocers  or  drug- 
gists at  about  five  cents  a  pint  for  common  quality. 

3.  Whiting  or  Spanish  White,  also  for  cleaning  the  plate.  A 
very  small  quantity  will  do. 

4.  Clean  Cotton  Rags.  —  Some  pieces  of  soft  old  shirting  are 
just  the  thing. 

5.  ETCHiNCi-GROUND,  with  which  to  protect  the  plate  against  the 
action  of  the  acid.  This  ground  is  sold  in  balls  about  the  size  of 
a  walnut.      If  you  do  not   live  in    a   city  where  you  can  buv  the 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER.  XV 

ground,  you  may  as  well  make  it  yourself.  Here  is  a  recipe  for 
a  very  cheap  and  at  the  same  time  very  good  ground.  It  is  the 
ground  used  by  Mr.  Peter  Moran,  one  of  the  most  experienced  of 
our  American  etchers.  Buy  at  a  drug-shop  (not  an  apothecary's) 
or  painter's  supply-store  :  — 

Two  ounces  best  natural  asphaltuin  (^also  called  Egyptian  asphaltum), 
worth  about  ten  cents. 

One  and  a  half  ounces  best  white  virgin  wax,  worth  about  six  cents. 

One  ounce  Burgundy  pitch,  worth  say  five  cents. 

Break  the  wax  into  small  pieces,  and  reduce  the  Burgundy  pitch 
to  fine  powder  in  a  mortar,  or  have  it  powdered  at  the  drug-shop. 
Take  a  clean  earthenware  pot  glazed  on  the  inside,  with  a  handle 
to  it  (in  Boston  you  can  buy  one  for  fifteen  cents  at  G.  A.  Miller 
&  Co.'s,  loi  Shawmut  Avenue),  and  in  this  pot  melt  your  asphaltum 
over  a  slow  fire,  taking  very  good  care  not  to  let  it  boil  over,  or 
otherwise  you  might  possibly  set  the  house  afire.  When  the 
asphaltum  has  melted  add  the  wax  gradually,  stirring  all  the  while 
with  a  clean  glass  or  metal  rod.  Then  add  the  Burgundy  pitch  in 
the  same  way.  Keep  stirring  the  fluid  mass,  and  let  it  boil  up 
two  or  three  times,  always  taking  care  to  prevent  boiling  over  ! 
Then  pour  the  whole  into  a  pan  full  of  tepid  water,  and  while  it  is 
still  soft  and  pliant,  form  into  balls  of  the  required  size,  working 
all  the  while  under  the  water.  If  you  touch  the  mass  while  it  is 
still  too  hot,  you  may  possibly  burn  your  fingers,  but  a  true  enthu- 
siast does  not  care  for  such  small  things.  You  will  thus  get  about 
eight  or  nine  balls  of  very  good  ground  at  an  outlay  of  about 
thirty-six  cents  in  cash,  and  some  little  time.  Nearly  all  recipes 
order  the  wax  to  be  melted  first,  but  as  the  asphaltum  requires  a 
greater  heat  to  reduce  it  to  a  fluid  condition,  it  is  best  to  com- 
mence with  the  least  tractable  substance.  For  use,  wrap  a  ball  of 
the  ground  in  a  piece  of  fine  and  close  silk  (taffeta),  and  tie  this 
together  with  a  string. 

6.  Means  of  heating  the  Plate.  —  Any  source  of  heat  emit- 
ting no  smoke  will  do,  such  as  a  kitchen  stove,  a  spirit  lamp, 
or  a  small  quantity  of  alcohol  poured  on  a  plate  and  ignited  (when 
the  time  arrives). 

7.  A  Hand  Vice  with  a  wooden  handle,  for  holding  the  plate 
while   heating  it;  price   about  seventy-five  cents  at  the  hardware- 


XVI  INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

Stores.     But  a  small  monkey-wrench  will  do  as  well,  and  for  this 
experiment  you  can  even  get  along  with  a  pair  of  pincers. 

8.  A  Dabber  for  laying  the  ground  on  the  plate.  Cut  a  piece 
of  stout  card-board,  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter  ;  on  this  lay 
a  bunch  of  horse-hair,  freed  from  all  dust,  and  over  this  again  some 
cotton  wool.  Cover  the  whole  with  one  or  two  pieces  of  clean 
tafteta  (a  clean  piece  of  an  old  silk  dress  will  do),  draw  them 
together  tightly  over  the  card-board,  and  tie  with  a  string.  When 
finished  the  thing  will  look  something  like  a  lady's  toilet-ball. 
The  horse-hair  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  and  may  be  omitted. 

9.  Means  of  Smoking  the  Ground. —  The  ground  when  laid 
on  the  plate  with  the  dabber,  is  quite  transparent  and  allows  the 
glitter  of  the  metal  to  shine  through.  To  obtain  a  better  working 
surface  the  ground  is  blackened  by  smoking  it.  For  this  purpose 
the  thin  wax-tapers  known  to  Germans  as  "  Wachsstock,"  generally 
sold  at  German  toy-stores,  are  the  best.  They  come  in  balls. 
Cut  the  tapers  into  lengths,  and  twist  six  of  them  together.  In 
default  of  these  tapers,  roll  a  piece  of  cotton  cloth  into  a  roll 
about  as  thick  and  as  long  as  your  middle  finger,  and  soak  one 
end  of  it  in  common  lamp  or  sperm  oil. 

10.  Stopping-out  Varnish,  used  for  protecting  the  back  and 
the  edges  of  the  plate,  and  for  "stopping  out,"  of  which  more  here- 
after. If  you  cannot  buy  it  you  can  make  it  by  dissolving  an 
ounce  of  asphaltum,  the  same  as  that  used  for  the  ground,  in  about 
an  ounce  and  a  half  of  spirits  of  turpentine.  Add  the  asphaltum  to 
the  turpentine  little  by  little  ;  shake  the  bottle  containing  the 
mixture  frequently  ;  keep  it  in  the  sun  or  a  moderately  warm 
place.  The  operation  will  require  several  days.  The  solution 
when  finished  should  be  of  the  consistency  of  thick  honey. 

11.  Camel's-Hair  Brushes,  two  or  three  of  different  sizes,  for 
laying  on  the  stopping-out  varnish,  and  for  other  purposes. 

12.  Etching  Points  or  Needles,  for  .scratching  the  lines  into 
the  ground.  Rat-tail  files  of  good  quality,  costing  about  twenty 
cents  each  at  the  hardware-stores,  are  excellent  for  the  purpose. 
Two  are  all  you  need  for  your  experiment,  and  even  one  will  be 
sufficient.  Still  cheaper  points  can  be  made  of  sewing,  knitting, 
or  any  other  kind  of  needles,  mounted  in  sticks  of  wood  like  the 
lead  of  a  lead-pencil.  Use  glue  or  sealing-wax  to  fasten  them  in 
the  wood. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER.  xvii 

13.  An  Oil-Stone  for  grinding  the  points. 

14.  An  Etching-Tray  to  hold  the  acid  during  the  operation  of 
biting.  Trays  are  made  of  glass,  porcelain,  or  india-rubber,  and 
can  generally  be  had  at  the  photographer's  supply-stores.  A 
small  india-rubber  tray,  large  enough  for  your  experiment,  meas- 
uring four  by  five  inches,  costs  fifty-five  cents.  But  you  can 
make  an  excellent  tray  yourself  of  paper.  Make  a  box,  of  the 
required  size  and  about  one  and  a  half  inches  high,  of  pasteboard, 
covered  over  by  several  layers  of  strong  paper,  well  glued  on.  If 
you  can  manage  to  make  a  lip  or  spout  in  one  of  the  corners,  so 
much  the  better.  After  the  glue  has  well  dried  pour  stopping- 
out  varnish  into  the  box,  and  float  it  all  over  the  bottom  and  the 
sides  ;  pour  the  residue  of  the  varnish  back  into  your  bottle,  and 
allow  the  varnish  in  the  box  to  dry  ;  then  paint  the  outside  of  the 
box  with  the  same  varnish.  Repeat  this  process  three  or  four 
times.  Such  a  tray,  with  an  occasional  fresh  coating  of  varnish, 
will  last  forever.  For  your  experiment,  however,  any  small  por- 
celain {not  earthenware)  or  glass  dish  will  do,  if  it  is  only  large 
enough  to  hold  your  plate,  and  allow  the  acid  to  stand  over  it  to 
the  height  of  about  half  an  inch. 

15.  A  Plate-Lifter,  to  lift  your  plate  into  and  out  of  the  bath 
without  soiling  your  fingers.  It  consists  of  two  pieces  of  string, 
each  say  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  long,  tied  to  two  cross-pieces  of 
wood,  each  about  six  inches  long,  thus  tzt  It  is  well  to 
keep  the  fingers  out  of  the  acid,  as  it  causes  yellow  spots  on  the 
skin,  which  remain  till  they  wear  off. 

16.  Nitric  Acid  for  biting  in  the  lines.  Any  nitric  acid  sold 
by  druggists  will  do,  but  the  best  is  the  so-called  chemically  pure 
nitric  acid  made  by  Messrs.  Powers  &  Weightman,  of  Philadel- 
phia. It  comes  put  up  in  glass-stoppered  bottles,  the  smallest  of 
which  hold  one  pound,  and  sell  for  about  sixty  cents. 

17.  Water  for  mixing  with  the  acid  and  for  washing  the 
plate. 

18.  Blotting-Paper,  soft  and  thick,  several  sheets,  to  dry  the 
plate,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter. 

19.  Spirits  of  Hartshorn  or  Volatile  Alkali.  —  This  is  not 
needed  for  etching,  but  it  is  well  to  have  it  at  hand,  in  case  you 
should  spatter  your  clothes  with   acid.     Spots  produced  by  the 


xviu  INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

acid  can  generally  be  removed  by  rubbing  with  the  alkali,  which 
neutralizes  the  acid. 

3.  Grounding  the  Plate.  —  Having  procured  all  these  requi- 
sites, the  first  thing  to  do  will  be  to  clean  the  plate  so  as  to  remove 
any  oil  or  other  impurities  that  may  have  been  left  on  it  by  the 
plate-maker.  Wash  and  rub  it  well  on  both  sides  with  a  soft 
cotton  rag  and  benzine,  and  then  rub  with  whiting,  as  you  would 
do  if  you  were  to  clean  a  door-plate.  Take  care  to  remove  all  the 
whiting  with  a  clean  rag.  Now  take  hold  of  your  plate  by  one  of 
its  corners  with  the  hand-vice,  wrench,  or  pincers,  between  the 
jaws  of  which  you  have  put  a  bit  of  card-board  or  stout  paper,  so  as 
not  to  mark  the  plate.  Hold  it  over  the  stove,  spirit  lamp,  or  ignited 
alcohol,  and  see  to  it  that  it  is  heated  evenly  throughout.  Hold 
the  plate  in  your  left  hand  while  heating  it,  and  with  the  other 
press  against  it  the  ball  of  ground  wrapped  up  in  silk.  As  soon 
as  you  see  the  ground  melting  through  the  silk,  distribute  it 
over  the  plate  by  rubbing  the  ball  all  over  its  surface  {\\\q  polished 
surface,  as  a  matter  of  course),  taking  care  the  while  that  the 
plate  remains  just  hot  enough  to  melt  the  ground.  If  it  is  too 
hot,  the  ground  will  commence  to  boil  and  will  finally  burn.  The 
bubbles  caused  by  boiling  are  liable  to  leave  air-holes  in  the  ground 
through  which  the  acid  may  bite  little  holes  in  the  plate  ;  burning 
ruins  the  ground  altogether,  so  that  it  loses  its  power  of  with- 
standing the  acid.  After  you  have  distributed  the  ground  toler- 
ably evenly,  and  in  a  thin  layer,  lay  the  plate  down  on  the  table 
(keeping  hold  of  it,  however,  by  the  corner),  and  finish  the  distri- 
bution of  the  ground  by  dabbing  with  the  dabber.  Strike  the 
plate  quickly  and  with  some  force  at  first,  and  treat  it  more  gently 
as  the  ground  begins  to  cool.  If  it  should  have  cooled  too  much, 
before  the  distribution  is  accomplished  to  your  satisfaction,  in 
which  case  the  dabber  will  draw  threads,  heat  the  plate  gently. 
The  dabber  not  only  equalizes  the  distribution  of  the  varnish,  but 
also  removes  what  is  superfluous.  An  extremely  thin  layer  of 
ground  is  sufficient. 

4.  Smoking  the  Plate.  —  While  the  plate  is  yet  hot,  and  the 
ground  soft,  it  must  be  smoked.  Light  your  tapers  or  your  oil 
torch,  and  turn  the  j)late  upside  down.  Allow  the  flame  just  to 
touch  the  plate,  and  keep  moving  it  about  rapidly,  so  that  it  may 


liiiliiML 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER.  XIX 

touch  all  points  of  the  plate,  without  remaining  long  at  any  one 
of  them.  If  this  precaution  is  ignored,  the  ground  will  be 
burned,  with  the  result  before  stated.  The  smoking  is  finished  as 
soon  as  the  plate  is  uniformly  blackened  all  over,  and  the  glimmer 
of  the  metal  can  no  longer  be  seen  through  the  ground.  Now  al- 
low the  plate  to  cool  so  that  the  ground  may  harden.  Avoid  dust 
as  muck  as  possible  while  grounding  and  smoking  the  plate.  Par- 
ticles of  dust  embedded  in  the  ground  may  cause  holes  which  will 
admit  the  acid  where  you  do  not  wish  it  to  act. 

5.  Points  or  Needles. — The  plaic  is  now  ready  for  drawing 
upon  it,  but  before  you  can  proceed  to  draw  you  must  prepare 
your  points  or  needles.  Two  will  do  for  this  first  experiment,  a 
fine  one  and  a  coarse  one.  For  the  fine  one  you  may  use  a  sew- 
ing-needle, for  the  coarser  one  a  medium  embroidery  needle,  both 
set  in  wood  so  that  the  points  project  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch. 
If  you  are  going  to  use  rat-tail  files,  grind  the  handle-ends  on 
your  oil-stone  until  they  attain  the  requisite  fineness.  Hold  the 
file  flat  on  the  stone,  so  as  to  get  a  gradually  tapering  point,  and 
turn  continually.  See  to  it  that  even  the  point  of  your  finest 
needle  is  not  too  sharp.  If  it  scratches  when  you  draw  it  lightly 
over  a  piece  of  card-board,  describe  circles  with  it  on  the  board 
until  it  simply  makes  a  mark  without  scratching.  The  coarse 
needle  must  be  evenly  rounded,  as  otherwise  it  may  have  a  cutting 
point  somewhere. 

6.  Drawing  on  the  Plate.  —  As  the  purpose  of  your  experi- 
ment is  simply  to  familiarize  yourself  with  the  technicalities  of 
etching,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  preparation  of  the  plate,  the  man- 
agement of  the  points,  and  the  action  of  the  acid,  it  will  be  well  to 
confine  yourself  to  the  drawing  of  lines  something  like  those  on 
PI.  A.  It  is  the  office  of  the  point  simply  to  remove  the  ground, 
and  lay  bare  the  copper.  But  this  it  must  do  thoroughly,  for  the 
slightest  covering  left  on  the  plate  will  prevent  the  acid  from 
attacking  the  copper.  You  must  therefore  use  sufficient  pres- 
sure to  accomplish  this  end,  but  at  the  same  time  you  must  avoid 
cutting  into  the  copper  by  using  too  much  pressure.  Wherever 
the  point  has  cut  the  copper  the  acid  acts  more  rapidly,  as  the 
polished  coating  of  the  surface  of  the  plate  has  been  removed. 
It  is  evident  from  this  that  an    even    pressure   is    necessary  to- 


XX  INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER. 

produce  an  evenly  bitten  line.  Do  not  touch  the  ground  with 
your  hands  while  drawing.  Rest  your  hand  on  three  or  four 
thicknesses  of  soft  blotting-paper.  When  you  desire  to  shift  the 
paper,  ////  it,  and  nci'cr  drazv  it  over  the  ground.  Hold  the  point, 
not  slantingly  like  a  pencil,  but  as  near  as  possible  perpendicularly. 
The  point  is  a  hard  instrument,  with  which  you  cannot  produce  a 
swelling  line,  as  with  a  pencil  or  a  pen.  Therefore  your  only  aim 
must  be  an  even  line,  produced  by  even  pressure.  The  minute 
threads  of  ground  thrown  up  by  the  point  you  must  remove  with 
your  largest  camel's-hair  brush  ;  otherwise  they  may  clog  your 
lines.  Before  commencing  to  draw  read  the  description  of  PI.  A 
given  under  the  heading  "  Description  of  Plates." 

7.  Preparing  the  Plate  for  the  Bath.  —  If  you  were  to  put 
the  plate  into  the  acid  bath  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  at  present, 
the  acid  would  corrode  the  unprotected  parts.  To  prevent  this 
paint  the  back,  and  the  corner  by  which  you  held  the  plate  while 
grounding  it,  and  the  edges  with  stopping-out  varnish.  If  you  are 
not  in  a  hurry  {and  it  is  always  best  not  to  be  in  a  hurry),  let  the 
varnish  dry  over  night  ;  if  you  cannot  wait  so  long  an  hour  will 
be  sufficient  for  drying.  While  the  plate  is  drying  you  may  lay 
it,  face  downward,  on  a  little  pile  of  soft  paper,  made  up  of  pieces 
smaller  than  the  plate,  so  that  the  paper  may  not  touch  the  var- 
nished edges. 

8.  The  Bath.  —  The  preparation  of  the  bath  is  next  in  order. 
Ascertain  the  capacity  of  the  dish  or  tray  you  are  going  to  use  by 
pouring  water  into  it  to  fill  it  to  half  its  height,  and  then  measur- 
ing the  water.  Pour  one  half  of  this  quantity  of  water  back  into 
the  tray,  and  add  to  it  the  same  quantity  of  nitric  acid,  stirring 
the  mi.xture  well  with  a  glass  rod,  or  a  bit  of  glass,  or  a  bird's 
feather,  if  you  happen  to  have  one,  or  in  default  of  all  these  with  a 
bit  of  stick.  The  mixing  of  water  and  acid  induces  chemical  action, 
and  this  produces  heat.  The  bath  must  therefore  be  allowed  to 
cool  half  an  hour  or  so,  before  the  plate  is  put  into  it.  Nitric 
acid  being  a  corrosive  and  poisonous  fluid,  it  is  well  to  use  some 
care  in  handling  it.  Otherwise  it  may  bite  holes  into  your  cloth- 
ing, and  disfigure  your  hands,  as  before  noted.  By  the  side  of 
your  bath  have  a  large  vessel  filled  with  clean  water,  in  which  to 
wash  the  plate  when  it  is  withdrawn  from  the  bath,  and  your 
finjrers  in  case  vou  should  soil  them  with  acid. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER.  xxi 

9.  Biting  and  Stopping  Out.  —  The  bath  having  been  pre- 
pared, and  the  varnish  on  the  back  and  edges  of  the  plate  having 
dried  sufficiently,  lay  the  plate  on  the  plate-lifter,  face  upward,  and 
lift  it  into  the  bath.  In  a  few  minutes,  in  hot  weather  in  a  few 
seconds,  the  acid  will  begin  to  act  on  the  copper.  This  is  made 
evident  to  the  eye  by  the  bubbles  which  collect  in  the  lines,  and 
to  the  nose  by  the  fumes  of  nitrous  acid  which  the  bath  exhales. 
The  bubbles  must  be  removed  by  gently  brushing  them  out  of 
the  lines  with  a  brush  or  the  vane  of  a  feather  ;  the  fumes  it 
is  best  not  to  inhale,  as  they  irritate  the  throat.  After  the  bit- 
in£r  has  gone  on  for  three  minutes  in  warm,  or  for  five  minutes 
in  cold  weather,  lift  the  plate  out  of  the  bath  into  the  vessel 
filled  with  water.  Having  washed  it  well,  so  as  to  remove  all 
traces  of  the  acid,  lay  it  on  a  piece  of  blotting-paper,  and  take 
up  the  moisture  from  the  face  by  gently  pressing  another  piece 
of  the  same  paper  against  it.  Then  fan  the  plate  for  some 
minutes  to  make  sure  that  it  is  absolutely  dry.  If  you  have  a 
pair  of  bellows  you  may  dispense  with  the  blotting-paper  as  well 
as  with  the  fanning.  The  lines  on  the  plate,  having  all  bitten  for 
the  same  length  of  time,  are  now  all  of  about  the  same  depth,  and 
if  the  plate  were  cleaned  and  an  impression  taken  from  it,  they 
would  all  appear  of  about  the  same  strength,  the  only  difference 
being  that  produced  by  difference  in  spacing  and  in  the  size  of 
the  needles.  This  is  the  point  where  the  stopping-out  varnish 
comes  in.  With  a  fine  camel's-hair  brush  stop  oiit.AhdX  is  to  say, 
paint  over  with  stopping-out  varnish,  those  lines  or  parts  of  lines 
which  are  to  remain  as  they  are.  If  the  varnish  should  be  too 
thick  to  flow  easily  from  the  brush,  mix  a  small  quantity  of  it  in  a 
paint  saucer,  or  on  a  porcelain  slab,  or  a  piece  of  glass,  with  a  few 
drops  of  benzine.  The  varnish,  however,  must  not  be  too  thin, 
as  in  that  case  it  will  run  in  the  lines,  and  will  fill  them  where 
you  do  not  wish  them  to  be  filled.  If  it  is  of  the  right  consis- 
tency, you  can  draw  a  clean  and  sharp  line  across  the  etched  lines 
without  danger  of  running.  When  you  have  laid  on  your  stop- 
ping-out varnish,  fan  it  for  some  minutes  until  it  has  dried  suffi- 
ciently not  to  adhere  to  the  finger  when  lightly  touched.  Then 
introduce  the  plate  into  the  bath  again,  and  let  the  biting  con- 
tinue another  five   minutes.     Remove  again,  stop   out  as  before, 


xxii  INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER, 

and  continue  these  operations  as  often  as  you  wish.  But  it 
would  be  useless  to  let  your  accumulated  bitings  on  this  experi- 
mental plate  exceed  more  than  thirty  minutes.  Having  finished 
your  last  biting,  clean  the  plate  with  benzine.  Then  apply  the 
same  process  to  your  hands,  and  follow  it  up  with  a  vigorous  ap- 
plication of  soap  and  nail-brush.  This  will  leave  your  hands  as 
beautiful  as  they  were  before. 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  bother  with  taking  an  tmpression 
from  this  trial  plate,  unless  you  happen  to  have  a  printer  near 
by.  The  plate  itself  will  show  you  how  the  acid  has  enlarged 
the  lines  at  each  successive  biting,  and  it  stands  to  reason  that 
the  broader  and  deeper  lines  should  give  a  darker  impression  than 
the  finer  and  shallower  ones.  If,  however,  you  have  no  printer  at 
hand,  and  still  desire  to  see  how  your  work  looks  in  black  and 
white,  you  may  consult  the  chapter  on  "  Proving  and  Printing," 
p.  55  of  M.  Lalanne's  "Treatise." 


You  have  now  gained  some  idea  of  the  theory  of  etching,  have 
acquainted  yourself  with  the  use  of  tools  and  materials,  and  have 
mastered  the  most  elementary  technical  difficulties  of  the  process. 
You  are  therefore  in  a  position  to  profit  by  the  teachings  of  M. 
Lalanne  which  follow. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  assure  you  that  the  home-made  appliances 
described  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs  are  quite  sufficient,  techni- 
cally, for  the  purposes  of  the  etcher.  Plate  B.  Mr.  Walter  F. 
Lansil's  first  essay  in  etching,  was  executed  according  to  the  direc- 
tions here  given,  and  the  artist  has  kindly  consented  to  let  me  use 
it  for  the  special  purpose  of  illustrating  this  point. 


DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   PLATES. 


Plate  A      A  Trial  Plate.     This  plate  is  given  to  show  the  effect  of  dif- 
ference in  length  of  biting.     The  lines  in  the  eight  upper  rectangles  were  a  1 
dr.wn  before  the  first  immersion  of  the  plate,  those  on  the  left  with  a  fine  pomt, 
those  on  the  right  with  a  somewhat  coarser  one.     After  the  plate  had  been  m 
thebath  for  three  minutes,  it  was  withdrawn,  and  the  upper  rectangle  on  the 
left  stopped  out.     The  upper  rectangle  on  the  right,  however,  had  hardly  been 
attacked  by  the  acid,  as  the  lines  had  been  drawn  with  a  blunter  pomt,  wli.ch 
had  not  scratched  the  copper,  while  the  fine  point  had.     It  was  there  ore 
allowed  to  bite  another  three  minutes  before  it  was  stopped  out.     The  other 
rectan-les  were  allowed  to  bite  ten,  twenty,  and  thirty  minutes  respectively, 
bv  whrch  means  the  difference  in  value  was  produced.     The  figures  a,  b,  c 
perhaps    show  the   results  of  partial   biting  still    better.      The  three  vvere 
simplv  lined  with  the  same  point.     After  the  first  biting  they  all  looked  hke 
a      This  was  then  stopped  out.  together  with  the  corners  of  b  and  c.     After 
the  second  biting  b  and  c  were  both  as  b  now  is.     The  whole  of  b  was  now 
stopped  out,  and  part  of  .,  allowing  only  the  inner  lozenge  to  remain  exposed 
to  the  acid.     It  is  evident  that  the  difference  in  color  in  these  figures  is   not 
due  to  the  drawing,  but  is  entirely  the  result  of  bating. 

Plate  B.  Vessels  in  Bostcm  Harbor.  A  first  essay  in  etching  by  Mr. 
Walter  F.  Lansil,  marine  painter,  of  Boston.  The  artist  has  kindly  given 
me  permission  to  use  this  plate,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  home- 
made tools  and  materials  described  in  the  Introductory  Chapter  are  quite 
sufficient  for  all  the  technical  purposes  of  the  etcher.  It  is  eminently 
Miome-made."  The  ground  was  prepared  according  to  the  recipe  given; 
the  points  used  were  a  sewing-needle  and  a  knitting-needle  ;  the  tray  m  which 
it  was  etched  was  made  of  paper  covered  with  stopping-out  varnish  ;  even  the 
plate  (a  zink  plate  by  the  way)  did  not  come  from  the  plate-maker,  but  was 

ground  and  poHshed  at  home.  ,     ,  , ,  .         u  c    * 

Plate  I  a.  Etching  after  Claude  Lorrain.  Unfinished  plate,  or  first 
state  "  (see  pp.  23  and  29).  This,  however,  is  not  the  etching  itselt  :  it  is  a 
photo-engraving  from  the  unfinished  etching.  But  it  does  well  enough  to 
show  the  imperfections  alluded  to  by  M.  Lalanne  in  the  text. 

Plate  I.  Etching  after  Claude  Lorrain.  Finished  plate,  or  ^^  stcond. 
state  "  (see  pp.  36  and  56).     Clean  wiped. 


xxiv  DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    PLATES. 

Plate  II.  Etching  after  Claude  Lorrain.  Printed  from  the  same 
plate  as  PI.  I,  but  treated  as  described  on  p.  57.  The  ditTerence  between  the 
two  plates  shows  wliat  the  art  of  the  printer  can  do  for  an  etching.  The  dif- 
ference would  be  still  greater  if  PI.  11.  were  better  printed;  for  it  is  not 
printed  as  well  as  it  might  be,  although  it  was  done  in  Paris. 

Plate  III.  A  plat,  une  pointe  —  flat  biting,  drawn  with  one  point:  that 
is  to  say,  the  plate  was  immersed  only  once,  and  the  lines  are  all  the  result 
of  the  same  needle,  so  that  the  efl'ect  is  only  produced  by  placing  the  lines 
close  together  in  the  foreground,  and  farther  apart  as  the  distance  recedes 
(see  p.  43).  À  plat,  plusieurs  pointes — flat  biting,  several  points,  that  is  to 
say,  one  immersion  only,  but  the  work  of  finer  and  coarser  points  is  inter- 
mingled in  the  drawing.  Par  couvertures,  plusieurs  pointes  —  stopping  out 
and  the  work  of  several  points  combined. 

Plate  IV.  Fig.  i.  Seep.  27.  Fig.  2.  Seep.  45.  Figs.  ;i,4aful^. 
See  p.  46. 

Plate  V.  Fig.  i.  Worked  with  one  point;  effect  produced  by  stop- 
ping out  (seep.  44).  Fig.  2.  Mottled  tint  in  the  building,  &c.,  in  the  fare- 
ground  ;  stopping  out  before  biting,  in  the  sky  (see  p.  51). 

Plate  VI.     Soft-ground  etchings.     Seep   52. 

Plate  VII.     Dry-point  etching.     Seep.  53. 

Plate  VIII.  À  .Sé7'ille.  A  sketch,  given  as  a  specimen  of  printing 
(see  p.  58). 

Plate  IX.  A  Anvers.  Le  Haag,  Amsterdam.  Sketches  from  nature, 
to  serve  as  examples. 

Plate  X.  (Frontispiece).  Souvenir  de  Bordeaux.  To  be  consulted 
in  regard  to  the  manner  of  using  the  points  and  partial  bitings. 


MY   DEAR   MONSIEUR    LALANNE,* 

If  there  is  any  one  living  who  can  write  about  Etching,  it 
must  certainly  be  you,  as  you  possess  all  the  secrets  of  the  art, 
and  are  versed  in  all  its  refinements,  its  resources,  and  its  effects. 
Nevertheless,  when  I  was  told  that  you  intended  to  publish  a 
book  on  the  subject,  I  feared  that  you  were  about  to  attempt  the 
impossible  ;  for  it  seemed  as  if  Abraham  Bosse  had  exhausted  the 
theme  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  that  you  would  be  condemned 
to  repeat  all  that  this  excellent  man  had  said  in  his  treatise,  in 
which,  with  charming  na'ivctc,  he  teaches  tJie  art  of  engraving  to 
perfection. 

I  must  confess,  however,  that  the  reading  of  your  manuscript 
very  quickly  undeceived  me.  I  find  in  it  numberless  useful  and 
interesting  things  not  to  be  found  anywhere  else,  and  I  compre- 
hend that  Abraham  Bosse  wrote  for  those  who  know,  while  you 
write  for  those  who  do  not  know. 

I  was  quite  young,  and  had  just  left  college,  when  accident 
threw  into  my  hands  the  Traité  des  manières  de  graver  en  taille 
donce  sur  l airain  par  le  moyen  des  eatix  fortes  et  des  vernis  durs  et 
mois.  Perhaps  I  might  have  paid  no  attention  to  this  book,  if  I 
had  not  previously  noticed  on  the  stands  on  the  Quai  Voltaire 
some  etchings  by  Rembrandt,  which  had  opened  to  me  an  en- 
tirely new  world  of  poetry  and  of  dreams.  These  prints  had 
taken  such  hold  upon  my  imagination  that  I  desired  to  learn, 
from  Bosse's  "Treatise,"  how  the  Dutch  painter  had  managed  to 
produce  his  strange  and  startling  effects  and  his  mysterious  tones, 

*  This  letter  preceded  also  the  first  edition  of  iS66. 


XXVI  LETTER    BY    M.    BLANC. 

the  fantastic  play  of  his  lights  and  the  silence  of  his  shadows. 
Rembrandts  etchings  on  the  one  hand,  and  Bosse's  book  on  the 
other,  were  the  causes  of  my  resolution  to  learn  the  art  of  engrav- 
ing, and  of  my  subsequent  entry  into  the  studio  of  Calamatta  and 
Mercuri. 

As  soon  as  I  knew  how  to  hold  the  burin  and  the  point,  these 
grave  and  illustrious  masters  placed  before  me  an  allegorical 
figure  engraved  by  Edelinck,  whose  drapery  was  executed  in 
waving  and  winding  lines,  incomparable  in  their  correctness  and 
beauty.  To  break  my  hand  to  the  work,  it  was  necessary  to  copy 
on  my  plate  these  solemnly  classical  and  majestically  disposed 
lines.  But  while  I  cut  into  the  copper  with  restrained  impatience, 
my  attention  was  secretly  turned  towards  Rembrandt's  celebrated 
portrait  of  Janus  Lutma.  a  good  impression  of  which  I  owned, 
and  which  I  thought  of  copying. 

To  make  my  début  in  this  severe  school  —  in  which  we  were 
allowed  to  admire  only  Marc  Antonio,  the  Ghisis,  the  Audrans, 
and  Nanteuil  —  with  an  etching  by  Rembrandt,  would  have 
been  a  heresy  of  the  worst  sort.  Hence  to  be  able  to  i  isk 
this  infraction  of  discipline,  I  took  very  good  care  to  keep  my 
project  to  myself  Secretly  I  bought  ground,  wax,  and  a  plate, 
and  profited  of  the  absence  of  my  teachers  to  attempt,  with 
fevered  hands,  to  make  a  fac-similo  of  the  Lutma.  I  had  followed 
the  instructions  of  Abraham  Hosse  with  regard  to  the  ground, 
and  I  proceeded  to  bite  in  my  [ilatc  with  the  assistance  of  a 
comrade,  Charles  Nordlinger,  at  present  engraver  to  the  king  of 
Wurtemburg,  at  Stuttgart,  whom  I  had  admitted  as  my  accom- 
plice in  this  delightful  expedition. 

\'ou  may  well  imagine,  my  dear  Monsieur  Lalannc,  that  I  met 
with  all  sorts  of  accidents,  such  as  arc  likely  to  befall  a  novice, 
and  all  of  which  you  describe  so  carefully,  while  at  the  same  time 
you  indicate  fully  and  lucidly  the  remedies  that  may  be  applied. 
The   ground   cracked    in    several    places,  —  happily   in    the   dark 


LETTER   BY    M.    BLANC.  xxvn 

parts.  My  wax  border  had  been  hastily  constructed,  and  I  did 
not  know  then,  although  Bosse  says  so,  that  it  is  the  rule  to  pass 
a  heated  key  along  the  lower  line  of  the  border,  so  as  to  melt  the 
wax,  and  thus  render  all  escape  impossible.  Consequently  the 
acid  filtered  through  under  the  wax,  and  in  trying  to  arrest 
the  flow,  I  burned  my  fingers.  Furthermore,  when  it  came  to  the 
biting  in  of  the  shadows  in  the  portrait  of  Lutma,  the  greenish 
and  then  whitish  ebullition  produced  by  the  long-continued 
biting  so  frightened  me,  that  I  hastened  to  empty  the  acid  into 
a  pail,  not,  however,  without  having  spattered  a  few  drops  on  a 
proof  of  the  Vow  of  Louis  XIII.,  which  had  been  scratched  in  the 
printing,  and  which  we  were  about  to  repair.  At  last  I  removed 
the  ground,  and,  trembling  all  over,  went  to  have  a  proof  taken, 
but  not  to  the  printer  regularly  employed  by  Calamatta. 

What  a  disappointment  !  I  believed  my  etching  to  have  been 
suflficiently,  nay,  even  over  bitten,  and  in  reality  I  had  stopped 
half-way.  The  color  of  the  copper  had  deceived  me.  I  had  seen 
my  portrait  on  the  fine  red  ground  of  the  metal,  and  now  I  saw 
it  on  the  crude  white  of  the  paper.  I  hardly  knew  it  again.  It 
lacked  the  profundity,  the  mystery,  the  harmony  in  the  shadows, 
which  were  precisely  what  I  had  striven  for.  The  plate  was  only 
roughly  cut  up  by  lines  crossing  in  all  directions,  through  the  net- 
work of  which  shone  the  ground  which  Rembrandt  had  subdued, 
•so  as  to  give  all  the  more  brilliancy  to  the  window  with  its  leaded 
panes,  to  the  lights  in  the  foreground,  and  to  the  cheek  of  the 
pensive  head  of  Lutma.  As  luck  would  have  it,  all  the  light  part 
in  the  upper  half  of  the  print  came  out  pretty  well  ;  the  expres- 
sion of  the  face  was  satisfactory,  and  the  grimaces  of  the  two 
small  heads  of  monsters  which  surmount  the  back  of  the  chair 
were  perfectly  imitated.  I  had  to  strengthen  the  shadows  by 
means  of  the  roulette,  and  to  go  over  the  most  prominent  folds 
of  the  coat  with  the  graver  ;  for  I  had  not  the  knowledge  neces- 
sary to  enable  me  to  undertake  a  second  biting.     Bosse  says  a 


XXViii  LETTER    BY    M.    BLANC. 

few  words  on  this  subject,  which,  as  they  are  wanting  in  clearness, 
are  apt  to  lead  a  beginner  into  error.  He  speaks  of  smoked 
ground,  while,  as  you  have  so  admirably  shown,  white  ground 
must  be  used  for  retouching.  I  therefore  finished  my  plate  by 
patching  and  cross-hatching  and  stippling,  and  finally  obtained  a 
passable  copy,  which,  at  a  little  distance,  looked  something  like 
the  original,  although,  to  a  practised  eye,  it  was  really  nothing  but 
a  very  rude  imitation.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  we  carefully 
obliterated  all  evidence  of  our  proceedings,  and  that,  my  teachers 
having  returned,  1  went  to  work  again,  with  hypocritical  com- 
punction, upon  what  I  called  the  military  Wvxqs  of  Gerard  Edelinck. 
But  we  were  betrayed  by  some  incautious  words  of  the  chamber- 
woman,  and  M.  Calamatta,  having  discovered  "  the  rose-pot," 
scolded  Charles  Nordlinger  and  myself  roundly  for  this  romantic 

escapade.     If  my  plate  had  been  worse, the  good  Lord  only 

knows  what  might  have  happened  ! 

All  this,  my  dear  M.  Lalanne,  is  simply  intended  to  show  to 
you  how  greatly  I  esteem  the  excellent  advice  which  you  give  to 
the  young  etcher,  or  aqua-fortiste  (as  the  phrase  goes  now-a-days, 
according  to  a  neologism  which  is  hardly  less  barbaric  than  the 
word  artistic).  When  I  recall  the  efforts  of  my  youth,  the  ardor 
with  which  I  deceived  myself,  the  hot  haste  with  which  I  fell  into 
the  very  errors  which  you  point  out,  I  understand  that  your  book 
is  an  absolute  necessity  ;  and  that  the  artist  or  the  amateur,  who, 
hidden  away  in  some  obscure  province,  desires  to  enjoy  the 
agreeable  pastime  of  etching,  need  only  follow,  step  by  step,  the 
intelligent  and  methodical  order  of  your  precepts,  to  be  enabled 
to  carry  the  most  complicated  plate  to  a  satisfactory  end,  whether 
he  chooses  to  employ  the  soft  ground  used  by  Decamps,  Masson, 
and  Marvy,  or  whether  he  confines  himself  to  the  ordinary  pro- 
cesses which  you  make  sensible  even  to  the  touch  with  a  lucidity, 
a  familiarity  with  details,  and  a  certainty  of  judgment,  not  to  be 
sufficicntlv  commended. 


LETTER    BY    M.    BLANC.  XXIX 

Having  read  your  "  Treatise,"  I  admit,  not  only  that  you  have 
surpassed  your  worthy  predecessor,  Abraham  Bosse,  but  that  you 
have  absolutely  superseded  his  book  by  making  your  own  indis- 
pensable. If  only  the  amateurs,  whose  time  hangs  heavily  upon 
them  ;  if  the  artists,  who  wish  to  fix  a  fleeting  impression  ;  if  the 
rich,  who  are  sated  with  the  pleasures  of  photography,  —  had  an 
idea  of  the  great  charm  inherent  in  etching,  your  little  work 
would  have  a  marvellous  success  !  Even  our  elegant  ladies  and 
literary  women,  tired  of  their  do-nothing  lives  and  their  nick- 
nacks,  might  find  a  relaxation  full  of  attractions  in  the  art  of 
drawing  on  the  ground  and  biting -in  their  passing  fancies. 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  when  she  had  ceased  to  govern,  although 
she  continued  to  reign,  took  upon  herself  a  colossal  enterprise,  — 
to  amuse  the  king  and  to  divert  herself  You  know  the  sixty- 
three  pieces  executed  by  this  charming  engraver  (note,  if  you 
please,  that  I  do  not  say  eiigravcrcss  !).  Her  etchings  after  Eisen 
and  Boucher  are  exquisite.  The  pulsation  of  life,  the  fulness  of 
the  carnations,  are  expressed  in  them  by  delicately  trembling 
lines  ;  and  I  do  think  that  Madame  de  Pompadour  could  not 
have  done  better,  even  if  she  had  been  your  pupil. 

At  present,  moreover,  etching  has,  in  some  measure,  become 
the  fashion  again  as  a  substitute  for  lithography,  an  art  which 
developed  charm  as  well  as  strength  under  the  crayon  of  Charlet, 
of  Géricault,  of  Gigoux,  and  of  Gavarni.  The  Société  des  aqua- 
fortistes is  the  fruit  of  this  renaissance.  The  art,  which,  in  our 
own  day,  has  been  rendered  illustrious  by  the  inimitable  Jacque, 
now  has  its  adepts  in  all  countries,  and  in  all  imaginable  spheres 
of  society.  Etchings  come  to  us  from  all  points  of  the  compass  : 
the  Hague  sends  those  of  M.  Cornet,  conservator  of  the  Museum; 
Poland,  those  which  form  the  interesting  album  of  M.  Bronislas 
Zaleski,  the  Life  of  the  Kirghise  Steppes  ;  London,  those  of  M. 
Seymour  Haden,  so  original  and  full  of  life,  and  so  well  described 
in  the  catalogue  of  our  friend  Burty  ;   Lisbon,  those  of  King  Fer- 


XXX  LETTER    BY    M.    BLANC. 

dinand  of  Portugal,  who  etches  as  Grandville  drew,  but  with 
more  suppleness  and  freedom.  But  after  all  Paris  is  the  place 
where  the  best  etchings  appear,  more  especially  in  the  Gazette 
des  Beaux-Arts,  and  in  the  publications  of  the  Société  des  Aqua- 
fortistes. Do  you  desire  to  press  this  capricious  process  into 
your  service  for  the  translation  of  the  old  or  modern  masters  ? 
Hédouin,  Flameng,  Bracquemont,  will  do  wonders  for  you.  You 
have  told  me  yourself  that,  in  my  Œuvre  de  Rembrandt,  Flameng 
has  so  well  imitated  this  great  man,  that  he  himself  would  be 
deceived  if  he  should  come  to  life  again.  As  to  Jules  Jacque- 
mart, he  is  perfectly  unique  of  his  kind  ;  he  compels  etching  to 
say  what  it  never  before  was  able  to  say.  With  the  point  of  his 
needle  he  expresses  the  density  of  porphyry  ;  the  coldness  of 
porcelain  ;  the  insinuating  surface  of  Chinese  lacquer  ;  the  trans- 
parent and  imponderable  Jiftessc  of  Venetian  glassware  ;  the 
reliefs  and  the  chased  lines  of  the  most  delicate  works  of  the  gold- 
smith, almost  imperceptible  in  their  slightness  ;  the  polish  of  iron 
and  steel  ;  the  glitter,  the  reflections,  and  even  the  sonority  of 
bronze  ;  the  color  of  silver  and  of  gold,  as  well  as  all  the  lustre 
of  the  diamond  and  all  the  appreciable  shades  of  the  emerald,  the 
turquoise,  and  the  ruby.  I  shall  not  speak  of  you,  my  dear  mon- 
sieur, nor  of  your  etchings,  in  which  the  style  of  Claude  is  so  well 
united  to  the  grace  of  Karel  Diijardin.  You  preach  by  prac- 
tising ;  and  if  one  had  only  seen  the  plates  with  which  you  have 
illustrated  your  excellent  lessons,  one  would  recognize  not  only 
the  instructor  but  the  master  I  lence.  be  without  fear  or  hesita- 
tion ;  pi;t  forth  confidently  your  little  book  ;  it  is  just  in  time  to 
help  regenerate  the  art  of  etching,  and  to  direct  its  renaissance. 
For  these  reasons  —  mark  my  prediction  !  —  its  success  will  be 
brilliant  and  lasting. 

CHARLES    BLANC. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Since  the  year  1866,  when  the  first  edition  of  this  treatise 
appeared,  the  art  of  etching,  which  was  then  in  full  course  of  re- 
generation, has  gained  considerably  in  extent.  The  tendencies  of 
modern  art  must  necessarily  favor  the  soaring  flight  of  this  meth- 
od of  engraving,  which  has  been  left  in  oblivion  quite  too  long. 
It  remained  for  our  contemporary  school  to  accord  to  it  those 
honors  which  the  school  of  the  first  empire  had  denied  to  it,  and 
which  that  of  1830  had  given  but  timidly.  At  the  period  last 
named  some  of  our  illustrious  masters,  by  applying  their  talent 
to  occasional  essays  in  etching,  set  an  example  which  our  own 
generation,  expansive  in  its  aspirations,  and  anxiously  desirous 
of  guarding  the  rights  of  individuality,  was  quick  to  follow. 

The  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts  comprehended  this  movement, 
and  contributed  to  its  extension  by  attracting  to  itself  the  artists 
who  rendered  themselves  illustrious  by  the  work  done  for  its 
pages,  while,  by  a  sort  of  natural  reciprocity,  they  shed  around 
it  the  prestige  of  their  talents.  The  Société  des  ^qua-fortistes 
(Etching  Club),  founded  in  1863  by  Alfred  Cadart,  has  also,  by 
the  united  efforts  of  many  eminent  etchers,  done  its  share 
towards  bringing  the  practice  of  this  art  into  notice,  and  has 
popularized  it  in  the  world  of  amateurs,  whose  numbers  it  has 
been  instrumental  in  augmenting  ;  while  at  the  same  time,  owing 
to  the  nature  of  its  constitution,  it  has  given  material  support 
to  the  artists.  Private  collections  have  been  formed,  and  are 
growing  in  richness  from  day  to  day.  Two  royal  artists,  King 
Ferdinand  of  Portugal  and  King  Charles  XV.  of  Sweden,  have,, 


2  IXTRODUCTIOxN. 

through  their  works,  taken  an  active  part  in  the  renewal  of  etch- 
ing ;  they  were  the  happy  sponsors  of  a  publication  which,  under 
the  name  of  L Illustration  Nouvelle,  follows  in  the  footsteps,  and 
continues  the  traditions,  of  the  Société  des  Aqua-fortistes. 

Similar  societies,  organized  in  England  and  in  Belgium,^  are 
prospering.  On  the  other  hand,  a  great  number  of  art  journals, 
of  books,  and  of  albums,  owe  their  success  to  the  use  made  in 
them  of  etchings.  This  is  true  also  of  those  special  editions 
which  are  sumptuously  printed  in  small  numbers,  and  are  ihe 
delight  of  lovers  of  books. 

Etching  has  thus  taken  a  position  in  modern  art  which  cannot 
fail  to  become  still  more  important.  "  Everything  has  been  said," 
wrote  La  Bruyère,  concerning  the  works  of  the  pen,  "and  we 
can  only  glean  after  the  poets."  The  literature  of  two  centuries 
has  given  the  lie  to  the  assertion  of  the  celebrated  moralist,  and 
it  may  also  be  affirmed  that  etching  has  not  yet  spoken  its  last 
word.  Not  only  has  it  no  need  of  gleaning  after  the  old  masters, 
but  it  may  rather  seek  for  precious  models  in  the  works  of  our 
contemporary  etchers.  In  ihcir  experience  may  be  found  fruit 
for  the  present  as  well  as  useful  information  for  the  future. 


.An    Etcher's   Studio. 
Kmni  the  Third  Edition  of  .Abrah.itn  Bosse's  "Treatise,"  Paris,  1758. 


A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 


CHAPTER    I. 

DEFINITION    AND    CHARACTER    OF    ETCHING. 

1.  Definition.  —  An  etching  is  a  design  fixed  on  metal  by  the 
action  of  an  acid.  The  art  of  etching  consists,  in  the  first  place, 
in  drawing,  with  a.  point  or  needle,  upon  a  metal  plate,  which  is  per- 
fectly polished,  and  covered  with  a  layer  of  varnish,  or  ground, 
blackened  by  smoke  ;  and,  secondly,  in  exposing  the  plate,  when 
the  drawing  is  finished,  to  the  action  of  nitric  acid.  The  acid, 
which  does  not  affect  fatty  substances  but  corrodes  metal,  eats 
into  the  lines  which  have  been  laid  bare  by  the  needle,  and  thus 
the  drawing  is  bitten  in.  The  varnish  is  then  removed  by  washing 
the  plate  with  spirits  of  turpentine,"  and  the  design  will  be  found 
to  be  engraved,  as  it  were,  on  the  plate.  But,  as  the  color  of  the 
copper  is  misleading,  it  is  impossible  to  judge  properly  of  the 
quality  of  the  work  done  until  a  proof  has  been  taken. 

2.  Knowledge  needed  by  the  Etcher.  —  The  aspirant  in  the 
art  of  etching,  having  familiarized  himself  by  a  few  trials  with 
the  appearance  of  the  bright  lines  produced  by  the  needle  on  the 
dark  ground  of  smoked  varnish,  will  soon  go  to  work  on  his  plate 
confidently  and  unhesitatingly  ;  and,  without  troubling  himself 
much  about  the  uniform  appearance  of  his  work,  he  will  gradually 
learn  to  calculate  in  advance  the  conversion  of  his  lines  into  lines 
more  or  less  deeply  bitten,  and  the  change  in  appearance  which 
these  lines  undergo  when  transferred  to  paper  by  means  of  ink 
and  press. 

It  follows  from  this  that  the  etcher  must,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  his  work,  have  a  clear  conception  of  the  idea  he  intends 


4  A    TREATISE    OX    ETCHING. 

to  realize  on  his  plate,  as  the  work  of  the  needle  must  harmonize 
with  the  character  of  the  subject,  and  as  the  efifect  produced  is 
finally  determined  by  the  combination  of  this  work  with  that  of 
the  acid. 

The  knowledge  needed  to  bring  about  these  intimate  relations 
between  the  needle,  which  produces  the  draiviiig,  and  the  biting- 
in,  which  supplies  the  color,  constitutes  the  whole  science  of  the 
etcher. 

3.  Manner  of  Using  the  Needle.  —  Character  of  Lines. — 
The  needle  or  point  must  be  allowed  to  play  lightly  on  the  var- 
nish, so  as  to  permit  the  hand  to  move  with  that  unconcern  which 
is  necessary  to  great  freedom  of  execution.  The  use  of  a  mod- 
erately sharp  needle  will  insure  lines  which  are  full  and  nourished 
in  the  delicate  as  well  as  in  the  vigorous  parts  of  the  work.  We 
shall  thus  secure  the  means  of  being  simple.  Nor  will  it  be 
necessary  to  depart  from  this  character  even  in  plates  requiring 
the  most  minute  execution  ;  all  that  is  required  will  be  a  finer 
point,  and  lines  of  a  more  delicate  kind.  But  the  spaces  left  be- 
tween the  latter  will  be  proportionately  the  same,  or  perhaps  even 
somewhat  wider,  so  as  to  prevent  the  acid  from  confusing  the 
lines  by  eating  away  the  ridges  of  metal  which  are  left  standing 
between  the  furrows.  Freshness  and  neatness  depend  on  these 
conditions  in  small  as  well  as  in  large  plates. 

4.  Freedom  of  Execution.  —  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the 
engraver  who  employs  the  burin  (or  graver),  produces  lines  on  the 
naked  copper  or  steel  which  cross  one  another,  and  are  measured 
and  regular.  It  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  importance  of 
line-engraving,  growing  out  of  its  application  to  classical  works 
of  high  style,  that  it  should  always  show  the  severity  and  coldness 
of  positive  and  almost  mathematical  workmanship.  With  etching 
this  is  not  the  case  :  the  point  must  be  free  and  capricious  ;  it 
must  accentuate  the  forms  of  objects  without  stiffness  or  dryness, 
and  must  delicately  bring  out  the  various  distances,  without  fol- 
lowing any  other  law  than  that  of  a  picturesque  harmony  in  the 
execution.  It  may  be  made  to  work  with  precision,  whenever  that 
is  needed,  but  only  to  be  abandoned  afterwards  to  its  natural  grace. 
It  will  be  well,  however,  to  avoid  over-excitement  and  violence  in 
execution,  which  give  an  air  of  slovenliness  to  that  which  ought 
to  be  simply  a  re  very. 


DEFINITION    AND    CHARACTER    OF    ETCHING.  5 

5.  How  to  produce  Difference  in  Texture. —  The  manner  of 
execution  to  be  selected  must  conform  to  the  nature  of  the  objects. 
This  is  essential,  as  we  have  at  our  disposition  only  a  point,  the 
play  of  which  on  the  varnish  is  always  the  same.  It  follows  that 
we  must  vary  its  strokes,  so  as  to  make  it  express  difference  in 
texture.  If  we  examine  the  etchings  of  the  old  masters,  we  shall 
find  that  they  had  a  special  way  of  expressing  foliage,  earth,  rocks, 
water,  the  sky,  figures,  architecture,  &c.,  without,  however,  making 
themselves  the  slaves  of  too  constraining  a  tradition. 

6.  The  Work  of  the  Acid.  —  After  the  subject  has  been  drawn 
on  the  ground,  the  acid  steps  in  to  give  variety  to  the  forms  which 
were  laid  out  for  it  by  the  needle,  to  impart  vibration  to  this  work 
of  uniform  aspect,  and  to  inform  it  with  the  all-pervading  warmth 
of  life.  In  principle,  a  single  biting  ought  to  be  sufficient  ;  but 
if  the  artist  desires  to  secure  greater  variety  in  the  result  by  a 
succession  of  partial  bitings,  the  different  distances  may  be  made 
to  detach  themselves  from  one  another  by  covering  up  with  var- 
nish the  parts  sufficiently  bitten  each  time  the  plate  is  withdrawn 
from  the  bath.  The  different  parts  which  the  mordant  is  to  play 
must  be  regulated  by  the  feeling  :  discreet  and  prudent,  it  will 
impart  delicacy  to  the  tender  values  ;  controlled  in  its  subtle 
functions,  it  will  carefully  mark  the  relative  tones  of  the  various 
distances  ;  less  restrained  and  used  more  incisively,  it  will  dig 
into  the  accentuated  parts  and  will  give  them  force. 

7.  The  Use  of  the  Dry  Point.  —  If  harmony  has  not  been 
sufficiently  attained,  the  dry  point  is  used  on  the  bare  metal,  to 
modify  the  values  incompletely  rendered,  or  expressed  too  harshly. 
Its  office  is  to  cover  such  insufficient  passages  with  a  delicate  tint, 
and  to  serve,  as  Charles  Blanc  has  very  well  expressed  it,  as  a 
glaze  in  engraving. 

8.  Spirit  in  which  the  Etcher  must  work.  —  Follow  your 
feeling,  combine  your  modes  of  expression,  establish  points  of 
comparison,  and  adopt  from  among  the  practical  means  at  com- 
mand (which  depend  on  the  effect,  and  on  which  the  effect  de- 
pends) those  which  will  best  render  the  effect  desired  :  this  is 
the  course  to  be  followed  by  the  etcher.  There  is  plenty  of  the 
instinctive  which  practice  will  develop  in  him,  and  in  this  he  will 
find  a  growing  charm  and  an  irresistible  attraction.  What  happy 
effects,  what  surprises,  what  unforeseen  discoveries,  when  the  var- 


6  A    TREATISE    0\    ETCHING. 

nish  is  removed  from  the  plate  !  A  bit  of  good  luck  and  of  inspi- 
ration often  does  more  than  a  methodical  rule,  whether  we  are 
engaged  on  subjects  of  our  own  invention,  —  capricci,  as  the 
Italians  call  them, — or  whether  we  are  drawing  from  nature  di- 
rectly on  the  copper.  The  great  aim  is  to  arrive  at  the  first  onset 
at  the  realization  of  our  ideas  as  they  are  present  in  our  mind. 
An  etching  must  be  virginal,  like  an   improvisation. 

9.  Expression  of  Individuality  in  Etching.  —  Having  once 
mastered  the  processes,  the  designer  or  painter  need  only  carry 
his  own  individuality  into  a  species  of  work  which  will  no  longer 
be  strange  to  him,  there  to  find  again  the  expression  of  the  talent 
which  he  displayed  in  another  field  of  art.  He  will  comprehend 
that  etching  has  this  essentially  vital  element,  —  and  in  it  lies  the 
strength  of  its  past  and  the  guaranty  of  its  future,  —  that,  more 
than  any  other  kind  of  engraving  on  metal,  it  bears  the  imprint  of 
the  character  of  the  artist.  It  personifies  and  represents  him  so 
well,  it  identifies  itself  so  closely  with  his  idea,  that  it  often  seems 
on  the  point  of  annihilating  itself  as  a  process  in  favor  of  this  idea. 
Rembrandt  furnishes  a  striking  example  of  this  :  by  the  inter- 
mixture and  diversity  of  the  methods  employed  by  him,  he  arrived 
at  a  suavity  of  expression  which  may  be  called  magical  ;  he  dif- 
fused grace  and  depth  throughout  his  work.  In  some  of  his 
plates  the  processes  lend  themselves  so  marvellously  to  the 
severest  requirements  of  modelling,  and  attain  such  an  extreme 
limit  of  delicacy,  that  the  eye  can  no  longer  follow  them,  thus 
leaving  the  completest  enjoyment  to  the  intellect  alone. 

Claude  Lorrain,  on  the  other  hand,  knew  how  to  conciliate 
freedom  of  execution  with  majesty  of  style. 

10.  Value  of  Etching  to  Artists.  —  Speaking  of  this  subordi- 
nation of  processes  in  etching  to  feeling,  I  am  induced  to  point 
out  how  many  of  the  masters  of  our  time,  judging  by  the  char- 
acter of  their  work,  might  have  added  to  their  merits  had  they 
but  substituted  the  etcher's  needle  for  the  crayon.  Was  not  De- 
camps, who  handled  the  point  but  little,  an  etcher  in  his  drawings 
and  his  lithographs?  Ingres  only  executed  one  solitary  etching, 
and  yet,  simply  by  virtue  of  his  great  knowledge,  it  seems  as  if  in 
it  he  had  given  a  presentiment  of  all  the  secrets  of  the  craft. 
And  did  not  Gigoux  give  us  a  foretaste  of  the  work  of  the  acid, 


DEFINITION    AND    CHARACTER    OF    ETCHING.  7 

when  he  produced  the  illustrations  to  his  "  Gil  Bias,"  conceived 
in  the  spirit  of  an  etcher,  which,  after  thirty  years  of  innumerable 
similar  productions,  are  still  the  chef-d'  œuvre  and  the  model  of 
engraving  on  wood.  And  would  Mouilleron  have  been  inferior, 
if  from  the  stone  he  had  passed  to  the  copper  plate  ?  It  would  be 
an  easy  matter  to  multiply  examples  chosen  from  among  the 
artists  who  have  boldly  handled  the  needle,  or  from  among  those 
who  might  have  taken  it  up  with  equal  advantage,  to  prove  that 
etching  is  not,  as  it  has  been  called,  a  secondary  method.  There 
are  no  secondary  methods  tor  the  manifestation  of  genius. 

11.  Versatility  of  Etching.  —  The  needle  is  the  crayon  ;  the 
acid  adds  color.  The  needle  is  sometimes  all  the  more  eloquent 
because  its  means  of  expression  are  confined  within  more  re- 
stricted limits.  It  is  familiar  and  lively  in  the  sketch,  which  by 
a  very  little  must  say  a  great  deal  ;  the  sketch  is  the  spontaneous 
letter.  It  all  but  reaches  the  highest  expression  when  it  is  called 
in  to  translate  a  grand  spectacle,  or  one  of  those  fugitive  effects 
of  light  which  nature  seems  to  produce  but  sparingly,  so  as  to 
leave  to  art  the  merit  of  fixing  them. 

12.  Etching  compared  to  other  Styles  of  Engraving.  —  By 
its  very  character  of  freedom,  by  the  intimate  and  rapid  connection 
which  it  establishes  between  the  hand  and  the  thoughts  of  the 
artist,  etching  becomes  the  frankest  and  most  natural  of  inter- 
preters. These  are  the  qualities  which  make  it  an  honor  to  art, 
of  which  it  is  a  glorious  branch.  All  other  styles  of  engraving 
can  never  be  any  thing  but  a  means  of  reproduction.  We  must 
admire  the  knowledge,  the  intelligence,  and  the  self-denial  which 
the  line-engraver  devotes  to  the  service  of  his  art.  But,  after  all, 
it  is  merely  the  art  of  assimilating  an  idea  which  is  foreign  to  him, 
and  of  which  he  is  the  slave.  By  him  the  chefs-d'œuvre  of  the 
masters  are  multiplied  and  disseminated,  and  sometimes,  in  giving 
eternity  to  an  original  work,  he  immortalizes  his  own  name  ;  but 
the  part  he  has  assumed  inevitably  excludes  him  from  all  creative 
activity. 

13.  Etching  as  a  Reproductive  Art.  —  These  reserves  having 
been  made  in  regard  to  the  engraver,  whose  instrument  is  the 
burin,  justice  requires  that  the  reproductive  etcher  should  come 
in   for  his  proportional  share,  and   that  his  functions  should  be 


8  A   TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

defined.  Some  years  ago,  a  school  of  etchers  arose  among 
us,  whose  mission  it  is  to  interpret  those  works  of  the  brush 
which,  by  the  delicacy  and  elegance  of  their  character,  cannot  be 
harmonized  with  the  severity  of  the  burin.  This  school,  to  which 
Mr.  Gaucherel  gave  a  great  impulse,  has  been  called  in  to  fill  a 
regrettable  void  in  the  collections  of  amateurs.  Every  one  knows 
those  remarkable  publications.  Les  Artistes  Contemporains,  and 
Les  Peintres  Vivants,  which,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  have  re- 
produced in  lithography  the  chefs-d'œuvre  of  our  exhibitions  of 
paintings.  To-day  etching  takes  the  place  of  lithography  ;  it 
excels  in  the  reproduction  of  modern  landscapes,  and  of  the 
genre  subjects  which  we  owe  to  our  most  esteemed  painters.  It 
is  not  less  happy  in  the  interpretation  of  certain  of  the  old  masters, 
whose  works  make  it  impossible  to  approach  them  with  the  burin. 
The  catalogues  of  celebrated  galleries  which  have  lately  been  sold 
also  testify  to  the  important  services  rendered  to  art  by  the  repro- 
ductive etcher.  His  methods  are  free  and  rapid  ;  they  are  not 
subjected  to  a  severe  convention  of  form.  He  may  rest  his  own 
work  on  the  genius  of  others,  so  as  to  attain  a  success  like  that 
of  the  painter-etcher  ;  but  the  latter,  as  he  bathes  his  inspiration 
in  the  acid  and  triumphantly  withdraws  it,  finds  his  power  and 
his  resources  within  himself  alone.  He  is  at  once  the  translator 
and  the  poet. 


TOOLS    AND    MATERIALS. 


CHAPTER   II. 

TOOLS   AND    MATERIALS. —  PREPARING   THE    PLATE.  —  DRAWING 
ON  THE   PLATE   WITH  THE   NEEDLE. 

14.  Method  of  Using  this  Manual.  —  As  the  general  theory 
given  in  the  preceding  chapter  may  seem  too  brief,  and  may  con- 
vey but  an  incomplete  idea  of  the  different  operations  involved  in 
etching,  I  shall  now  endeavor  to  formulate,  in  as  concise  a  manner 
as  possible,  such  practical  directions  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  give 
to  a  young  designer,  and  to  different  other  persons,  in  my  own 
studio.  I  shall  provide  successively  for  all  the  accidents  which 
usually,  or  which  may  possibly,  occur.  But  the  beginner  need  not 
trouble  himself  too  much  about  the  apparent  complication  of 
detail  which  the  following  pages  present.  They  are  intended, 
rather,  to  be  consulted,  like  a  dictionary,  as  occasion  arises.  In 
all  cases,  however,  it  will  be  well,  on  reading  the  book,  to  make 
immediate  application  of  the  various  directions  given,  so  as  to 
avoid  all  confusion  of  detail  in  the  memory,  and  to  escape  the 
tedium  of  what  would  otherwise  be  rather  dry  reading. 

A.     Tools  and  Materials. 

15.  List  of  Tools  and  Materials  needed. — To  begin  with, 
we  must  provide  ourselves  with  the  following  requisites  :^  — 

Copper  plates. 
A  hand-vice. 

Ordinary  etching-ground  and  transparent  ground  in  balls. 
Liquid  stopping-out  varnish. 
Brushes  of  different  sizes. 

Two  dabbers,  —  one  for  the  ordinary  varnish,  the  other  for  the  white 
or  transparent  varnish. 


lO  A    TREATISE   ON    ETCHING. 

A  wax  taper. 

A  needle-holder. 

Needles  of  various  sizes. 

A  dr)'  point. 

A  burnisher. 

A  scraper. 

An  oil-stone  of  best  quality. 

A  lens  or  magnifying-glass. 

Bordering-wax. 

An  etching-trough  made  of  gutta-percha  or  of  porcelain. 

India-rubber  finger-gloves. 

Nitric  acid  of  forty  degrees. 

Tracing-paper. 

Gelatine  in  sheets. 

Chalk  or  sanguine. 

Emery  paper,  No.  oo  or  coo. 

Blotting-paper. 

A  roller  for  revarnishing,  with  its  accessories. 

To  these  things  we  must  add  a  supply  of  old  rags. 

i6.  Quality  and  Condition  of  Tools  and  Materials.  —  Too 
much  care  cannot  be  taken  as  regards  the  quality  of  the  copper, 
which  metal  is  used  by  preference  for  etching.  Soft  copper  bites 
slowly,  while  on  hard  copper  the  acid  acts  more  quickly  and  bites 
more  deeply.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  nowadays  plates  are 
generally  rolled,  which  does  not  give  density  enough  to  the  metal. 
Formerly  they  were  hammered,  and  the  copper  was  of  a  better 
quality.  Thus  hammered,  the  metal  becomes  hard,  and  is  less 
porous  ;  its  molecular  condition  is  most  favorable  to  the  action  of 
the  acid,  the  lines  are  purer,  and  even  when  the  work  is  carried 
to  the  extreme  of  delicacy,  it  is  sure  to  be  preserved  in  the  biting. 

English  copper  plates,  and  plates  that  have  been  replaned,  are 
excellent.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  buy  thick  plates,  of  a  dimension 
smaller  than  that  of  the  designs  to  be  made,  and  to  have  them 
hammered  out  to  the  required  size.  The  plates  thus  obtained 
will  not  fail  to  be  very  good. 

The  vice  must  have  a  wooden  handle,  so  as  to  prevent  burning 
the  fingers. 

To  meet  all  possible  emergencies,  lamp-black  mav  be  mixed 


TOOLS    AND    MATERIALS.  II 

with  the  liquid  stopping-out  varnish  {petit  vernis  liquide).  Some 
engravers  find  that  it  dries  too  quickly,  and  therefore,  fearing  that 
it  may  chip  off  under  the  needle,  use  it  only  for  stopping  out  ;  for 
retouching,  they  employ  a  special  retouching  varnish  {vernis  au 
pinceau).^ 

For  brushes,  select  such  as  are  used  in  water-color  painting. 

The  silk  with  which  the  dabbers  are  covered  must  be  very  fine 
in  the  thread. 

In  order  to  protect  his  fingers,  an  engraver  conceived  the  idea 
of  smoking  his  plates  by  means  of  the  ends  of  several  candles  or 
wax  tapers  placed  together  in  the  bottom  of  a  little  vessel  :  they 
furnish  an  abundance  of  smoke,  and  can  be  extinguished  by  cov- 
ering up  the  vessel.  The  smoke  of  a  wax  taper  is  the  best  ;  it  is 
excellent  for  small  plates. 

The  needle-holder  holds  short  points  of  various  thicknesses, 
down  to  the  fineness  of  sewing-needles. 

To  sharpen  an  etching-needle,  pass  it  over  the  oil-stone,  holding 
it  down  flat,  and  turning  it  continually.  When  it  has  attained  a 
high  degree  of  sharpness,  describe  a  large  circle  with  it  on  a  piece 
of  cardboard,  holding  it  fixed  between  the  fingers  this  time,  and 
go  on  describing  circles  of  a  continually  decreasing  size.  The 
nearer  you  approach  to  the  centre,  the  more  vertical  must  be  the 
position  of  the  needle.  The  fineness  or  the  coarseness  of  the 
point  is  regulated  by  keeping  the  needle  away  from,  or  bringing 
it  nearer  to,  the  central  point. 

The  dry  point  must  be  ground  with  flat  faces  rather  than 
round,  so  as  to  cut  the  copper,  and  penetrate  it  with  ease. 

If  the  burnisher  is  not  sufficiently  polished,  it  scratches  the 
copper,  and  produces  black  spots  in  the  proofs.  To  keep  it 
in  good  condition,  cut  two  grooves,  the  size  of  the  burnisher,  in 
a  piece  of  pine  board.  Rub  it  up  and  down  the  first  of  these 
grooves,  containing  emery  powder  ;  and  then,  to  give  it  its  final 
lustre,  repeat  the  same  process,  with  tripoli  and  oil,  in  the  second 
groove. 

The  stones  which  are  too  hard  for  razors  are  excellent  for  the 
scrapers.  Having  sharpened  the  scraper  with  a  little  oil,  during 
which  operation  you  must  hold  it  down  flat  on  the  stone,  pass  it 
over  your  finger-nail.     If  the  touch  discloses  the  presence  of  the 


12  A    TREATISE    OX    ETCHING. 

least  bit  of  tooth,  and  if  the  tool  does  not  glide  along  with  the 
greatest  ease,  the  grinding  must  be  continued,  as  otherwise  the 
scraper  will  scratch  the  copper. 

You  are  at  liberty  to  use  two  troughs,  —  one  for  the  acid  bath  ; 
the  other,  filled  wiih  water,  for  washing  the  plate. 

A  glass  funnel,  and  a  bottle  with  a  ground-glass  stopper,  will 
be  necessary  for  filling  in  and  keeping  the  etching  liquid. 

Various  substances  are  used  for  finishing  off  the  copper  plates; 
the  most  natural  is  the  paste  obtained  by  rubbing  charcoal  on  the 
oil-stone  with  oil. 

Then  comes  the  fine  emery  paper  Nos.  oo  or  ooo.  rotten-stone, 
tripoli,  English  red,  and,  finally,  slate.  Powdered  slate,  produced 
by  simply  scraping  with  a  knife,  is  excellent,  used  with  oil  and 
a  fine  rag,  the  same  as  other  substances. 

The  varnish  for  revarnishing  is  nothing  but  ordinary  etching- 
ground,  dissolved  in  oil  of  lavender.  It  must  be  about  as  stiff 
as  honey  in  winter. 

The  rollers  for  revarnishing,  which  can  be  had  of  different  sizes, 
are  cylindrical  in  form,  and  are  terminated  by  two  handles,  which 
revolve  in  the  hands.  The  roller  ought,  if  possible,  to  cover  the 
whole  surface  of  the  copper.-^  As  soon  as  it  has  been  used,  it 
must  be  put  out  of  the  way  of  the  dust. 

These  various  recommendations  are  by  no  means  unnecessary, 
as  the  least  material  obstacle  may  sometimes  hinder  the  flight  of 
the  imagination.  It  is  well  to  be  armed  against  all  the  trouble- 
some vexations  of  the  handicraft  ;  for  the  difficulties  of  the  art 
are  in  themselves  sufficient  to  occupy  our  attention. 

B.     Prkp.xrixo  the  Plate. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  give  the  various  talks  which  I  had  with 
my  young  pupil. 

17.  Laying  the  Ground,  or  Varnishing.  —  You  have  here  a 
plate,  I  say  to  him  ;  I  clean  it  with  turpentine  ;  then,  having  well 
wiped  it  with  a  piece  of  fine  linen,  and  having  still  further  cleaned 
it  by  rubbing  it  with  Spanish  white  (or  whiting),  I  fasten  it  into 
the  vice  by  one  of  its  edges,  taking  care  to  place  a  tolerably  thick 
piece  of  paper  under  the   teeth  of  the  vice,  so  as  to  protect   the 


PREPARING   THE    PLATE.  13 

copper  against  injury.  I  now  hold  the  plate  with  its  back  over 
this  chafing-dish  ;  but  a  piece  of  burning  paper,  or  the  flame  of  a 
spirit-lamp,  will  do  equally  well.  As  soon  as  the  plate  is  sufficiently 
heated,  I  place  upon  its  polished  surface  this  ball  of  ordinary 
etching-ground,  wrapped  up  in  a  piece  of  plain  taffeta  ;  the  heat 
causes  the  ground  to  melt.  If  the  plate  is  too  hot,  the  varnish 
commences  to  boil  while  melting  ;  in  that  case,  we  must  allow  the 
plate  to  cool  somewhat,  as  otherwise  the  ground  will  be  burned. 
I  pass  the  ball  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  copper,  taking  care 
not  to  overcharge  the  plate  with  the  ground.  Then,  with  the 
dabber,  I  dab  it  in  all  directions  ;  at  first,  vigorously  and  quickly, 
so  as  to  spread  and  equalize  the  layer  of  varnish  ;  and  finally, 
as  the  varnish  cools,  I  apply  the  dabber  more  delicately.  The 
appearance  of  inequalities,  and  of  little  protruding  points  in  the 
ground,  indicates  that  it  is  laid  on  too  thick,  and  the  dabbing 
must  be  continued,  until  we  have  obtained  a  perfectly  homo- 
geneous layer.  This  must  be  very  thin,  —  sufficient  to  resist 
strong  biting,  and  yet  allowing  the  point  to  draw  the  very  finest 
lines,  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  do  with  too  much  varnish. 

18.  Smoking.  —  Without  waiting  for  the  plate  to  cool,  I  turn  it 
over,  and  present  its  varnished  side  to  the  smoke  of  a  torch  or  a 
wax  taper,  which  I  hold  at  a  distance  of  about  two  centimetres 
from  the  plate,  so  as  not  to  injure  the  varnish.  I  keep  moving 
the  flame  about  in  all  directions,  to  avoid  burning  the  varnish 
(which  latter  would  take  place  if  the  flame  remained  too  long  at 
the  same  point),  and  thus  I  obtain  a  brilliant  black  surface.  All 
the  transparency  is  gone  ;  we  see  neither  copper  nor  varnish,  and 
this  is  a  sign  that  our  operation  has  succeeded.  All  we  need  do 
now  is  to  allow  the  plate  to  cool  and  the  varnish  to  harden,  and 
then  you  can  commence  making  your  drawing. 

You  call  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  varnish,  in  cooling, 
loses  the  brilliancy  which  it  had  in  its  liquid  state.  This  is 
always  the  case.  And  see  the  perfect  neatness  and  evenness  of 
the  varnished  and  smoked  surface  !  Here  is  a  plate  which  was 
spoiled  in  the  smoking.  The  first  thing  that  strikes  us  is  that  we 
see  the  marks  left  by  the  passage  of  the  taper.  At  a  pinch,  these 
marks  might,  perhaps,  be  no  inconvenience  to  us  in  working  ;  but 
here  the  brilliant  black  is  broken  by  very  dull  spots.     These  are 


14  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

places  in  which  the  varnish  was  burned;  it  will  scale  off  under  the 
needle,  and  has  lost  the  power  of  resisting  the  acid.  We  must 
therefore  clean  this  plate  with  spirits  of  turpentine,  and  commence 
operations  afresh. 

The  ground  is  blackened,  because  its  natural  transparency  does 
not  permit  us  to  see  the  work  of  the  point.  This  work  produces 
what  might  be  called  a  negative  design  ;  that  is  to  say,  a  design 
in  bright  lines  on  a  black  ground.  This  is  rather  perplexing  at 
first,  but  you  will  soon  become  accustomed  to  it. 

C.     Drawing  on  the  Plate  with  the  Needle. 

19.  The  Transparent  Screen.  —  You  must  place  yourself  so 
as  to  face  this  window,  and  between  you  and  it  we  must  introduce, 
in  an  inclined  position,  a  transparent  screen  made  of  tracing  paper 
stretched  on  a  wooden  frame,  which  will  prevent  your  seeing  the 
window.  This  screen  will  soften  and  strain  the  light  ;  it  will 
reduce  the  reflection  of  the  copper,  and  will  allow  you  to  see 
what  you  arc  doing. 

In  designing  on  the  plate  out  of  doors,  the  screen  is  unneces- 
sary, since,  as  the  light  falls  equally  upon  the  copper  from  all 
directions,  the  reflection  is  done  away  with,  and  the  copper  does 
not  dazzle  the  eye  as  it  does  when  the  light  emanates  from  a 
single  source. 

20.  Needles  or  Points.  —  You  may  use  a  single  needle,  or 
you  may  use  several  of  different  degrees  of  sharpness,  even  down 
to  sewing-needles,  as  you  will  see  later  on  ;  but  your  work  on  the 
plate  will  always  look  uniform,  without  distance  and  without 
relief.  The  modelling  and  coloring  of  the  design  must  be  left  to 
the  acid. 

The  point  must  be  held  on  the  plate  as  perpendicularly  as  pos- 
sible, as  the  purity  of  the  line  depends  on  the  angle  of  incidence 
which  the  point  makes  with  the  copper  ;  furthermore,  it  must  be 
possible  to  direct  it  freely  and  easily  in  all  directions,  and  it  is, 
therefore,  necessary  that  the  needle  should  not  be  too  sharp.  To 
make  sure  of  this,  draw  a  number  of  eights  on  the  margin  of 
your  i^late,  or  simply  an  oblique  line  from  below  upwards  in  the 
direction  of  the  needle.  If  it  does  not  glide  along  easily,  if  it 
attacks  the  copper  and  catches  in  it,  you  must  regrind  it. 


DRAWING    ON    THE    PLATE    WITH    THE    NEEDLE.  15 

This  is  important,  as  in  principle  the  function  of  the  needle  is 
to  trace  the  design  by  removing  the  varnish  from  the  copper, 
while  it  must  avoid  scratching  it.  By  scratching  the  metal  we 
encroach  on  the  domain  of  the  acid,  and  inequality  of  work  is  the 
result,  since  the  acid  acts  more  vigorously  on  those  parts  which 
have  been  scratched  than  on  those  which  have  simply  been  laid 
bare.  We  must  feel  the  copper  under  the  point,  without,  how- 
ever, penetrating  into  it. 

The  opposite  effect  is  produced  if  we  operate  too  timidly.  In 
this  case  we  do  not  reach  the  copper.  We  remove  the  blackened 
surface,  and  it  seems  as  if  we  had  also  removed  the  varnish,  since 
we  see  the  copper  shining  through  it.  But  we  shall  find  later, 
from  the  fact  that  the  acid  does  not  bite,  that  we  did  not  bear 
heavily  enough  on  the  needle. 

At  first  there  is  a  tendency  to  proceed  as  in  drawing  on  paper, 
giving  greater  lightness  to  the  touch  of  the  point  in  the  distances, 
and  bearing  on  it  more  vigorously  in  the  foregrounds.  But  this 
is  useless. 

There  are  certain  artists,  nevertheless,  who  prefer  to  attack  the 
copper  with  cutting  points  in  the  finer  as  well  as  in  the  more 
vigorous  parts  of  their  work,  and  to  bite  in  with  strong  acid  ; 
others,  again,  dig  resolutely  into  the  copper  wherever  they  desire 
to  produce  a  powerful  tone.  Abraham  Bosse,  in  applying  etch- 
ing to  line-engraving,  advises  his  readers  to  cut  the  copper  slightly 
in  the  lines  which  are  to  appear  fine,  and  to  dig  vigorously  into 
the  plate  for  those  lines  which  are  to  be  very  heavy,  so  that  deli- 
cate as  well  as  strong  work  may  be  obtained  at  one  and  the  same 
biting.  As  it  is  necessary  in  this  sort  of  engraving  to  retouch  the 
heavy  lines  with  the  burin,  we  can  understand  that  in  the  way 
shown  the  work  of  the  instrument  named  may  be  facilitated. 

21.  Temperature  of  the  Room.  —  In  summer  the  tempera- 
ture softens  the  varnish,  and  the  needle  works  pliantly  and  easily  ; 
in  winter  the  cold  hardens  the  varnish,  so  that  it  is  apt  to  scale  off 
under  the  point,  especially  at  the  crossing  of  the  lines.  It  is 
advisable,  therefore,  to  have  your  room  well  heated,  or  to  supply 
yourself  with  two  cast-metal  plates  or  two  lithographic  stones,  or 
even  two  bricks,  if  you  please,  which  must  be  warmed  and  placed 
under  your  plate  alternately,  so  as  to  keep  it  at  a  soft  and  uniform 


l6  A    TREATISE    0\    ETCHING. 

temperature.  Practice  has  shown  that  work  done  at  the  right 
temperature  is  softer  than  that  executed  when  the  varnish  is  too- 
cold,  even  if  it  is  not  sufficiently  so  to  scale  off". 

22.  The  Tracing.  —  According  to  the  kind  of  work  to  be  done, 
we  shall  either  draw  directly  on  the  plate,  or,  in  the  case  of  a 
drawing  which  is  to  be  copied  of  its  own  size,  we  shall  make  use 
of  a  tracing.  Many  engravers  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
tracing,  and  accustom  themselves  to  reversing  the  original  while 
they  copy  it.  The  manner  of  using  a  tracing  is  well  known.  We 
shall  need  tracing-paper,  paper  rubbed  with  sanguine  on  one  side, 
and  a  pencil.  The  tracing  is  made  on  the  tracing-paper,  and  this 
is  afterwards  placed  on  the  prepared  plate  ;  between  the  tracing 
and  the  plate  we  introduce  the  paper  rubbed  with  sanguine;  then, 
with  a  very  fine  lead-pencil,  or  with  a  somewhat  blunt  needle,  we 
go  carefully  over  the  lines  of  the  design,  which,  under  the  gentle 
pressure  of  the  tool,  is  thus  transferred  in  red  to  the  black  ground. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  use  much  pressure,  as  otherwise  your  tracing 
will  be  obscured  by  the  sanguine  and  )ou  will  find  neither  pre- 
cision nor  delicacy  in  it.  Furthermore,  you  run  the  risk  of  injur- 
ing the  ground.  The  tracing  is  used  simply  to  indicate  the  places 
where  the  lines  are  to  be,  and  it  must  be  left  to  the  needle  to 
define  them. 

23.  Reversing  the  Design.  —  Whenever  your  task  is  the 
interpretation  of  an  object  of  fi.xed  aspect,  such  as  a  monument, 
or  some  well-known  scene,  or  human  beings  in  a  given  attitude, 
you  will  be  obliged  to  reverse  the  drawing  on  your  plate,  as 
otherwise  it  will  appear  reversed  in  the  proof  You  must,  there- 
fore, reverse  your  tracing,  which  is  a  very  easy  matter,  as  the 
design  is  equally  visible  on  both  sides  of  the  tracing-paper.  Gela- 
tine in  sheets,  however,  offers  still  greater  advantages  when  a 
design  is  to  be  reversed.  Place  the  gelatine  on  the  design,  and, 
as  it  is  easily  scratched,  make  your  tracing  with  a  very  fine- 
pointed  and  sharp  needle,  occasionally  slipping  a  piece  of  black 
paper  underneath  the  gelatine  to  assure  yourself  that  you  have 
omitted  nothing.  The  point,  in  scratching  the  gelatine,  raises  a 
bur,  and  this  must  be  removed  gently  with  a  paper  stump,  or  with 
the  scraper,  after  which  operation  the  tracing  is  rubbed  in  with 
powdered  sanguine.     Having  now  thoroughly  cleaned  the  sheet. 


DRAWING    ON    THE    PLATE    WITH    THE    NEEDLE.  1/ 

so  that  no  powder  is  left  anywhere  but  in  the  furrows,  we  turn  the 
sheet  over  and  lay  it  down  on  the  plate,  and  finally  rub  it  on  its 
back  in  all  directions,  for  which  purpose  we  use  the  burnisher 
dipped  in  oil.  The  design,  reversed,  will  be  found  traced  on  the 
varnish  in  extremely  fine  lines. 

24.  Use  of  the  Mirror.  —  The  tracing  finished,  place  a  mirror 
before  your  plate  on  the  table,  and  as  close  by  as  possible  ;  between 
the  plate  and  the  mirror  fix  the  design  to  be  reproduced,  and  then 
draw  the  reflected  image.  For  the  sake  of  greater  convenience, 
take  your  position  at  right  angles  to  the  window  instead  of  facing 
it,  so  that  the  light  passing  through  the  transparent  screen  on 
your  left  falls  on  the  mirror  and  the  design,  as  well  as  on  your 
work.  When  drawing  on  the  copper  from  nature,  if  the  design  is 
to  be  reversed,  you  must  place  yourself  with  your  back  to  the 
object  to  be  drawn,  and  so  that  you  can  easily  see  it  in  a  small 
mirror  set  up  before  your  plate.  This  is  the  way  Méryon  pro- 
ceeded :  standing,  and  holding  in  the  same  hand  his  plate  and  a 
little  mirror,  which  he  always  carried  in  his  pocket,  he  guided  his 
point  with  the  most  absolute  surety,  without  any  further  support. 

25.  Precautions  to  be  observed  while  Drawing.  —  Before 
you  begin  to  draw  you  must  trace  the  margin  of  your  design, 
for  the  guidance  of  the  printer.  To  protect  your  plate,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  cover  it  with  very  soft  paper  ;  the  pressure  of  the 
hand  does  no  harm,  provided  you  avoid  rubbing  the  varnish.  If 
you  should  happen  to  damage  it,  you  must  close  up  the  brilliant 
little  dots  which  you  will  observe,  by  touching  them  up,  very 
lightly  and  with  a  very  fine  brush,  with  stopping-out  varnish. 

26.  Directions  for  Drawing  with  the  Needle.  —  I  might  now 
let  you  copy  some  very  simple  etching  ;  but  your  knowledge  of 
drawing  will,  I  believe,  enable  you  to  try  your  hand  at  a  some- 
what more  important  exercise.  Let  us  suppose,  then,  that  you 
are  to  draw  a  landscape,  although  the  practice  you  are  about  to 
acquire  applies  to  all  other  subjects  equally  well.  Will  you  repro- 
duce this  design  by  Claude  Lorrain  .''  (PI.  II.)  It  is  a  com- 
position full  of  charm  and  color,  and  very  harmonious  in  effect. 
Use  only  one  needle,  and  keep  your  work  close  together  in  the 
distance  and  more  open  in  the  foreground.  (See  PI.  I  ".)  That 
appears  paradoxical  to  you  ;  but  the  nitric  acid  will  soon  tell  you 
why  this  is  so.     I  shall  indicate  to  you,  after  your  plate  has  been 


l8  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHIXG. 

bitten,  those  cases  in  which  you  will  have  to  proceed  differently, 
or,  in  other  words,  in  which  you  will  have  to  draw  your  lines 
nearer  together  or  farther  apart  without  regard  to  the  different 
distances.  I  cannot  explain  this  subject  more  fully  before  you 
have  become  acquainted  with  the  process  of  biting  in,  as  without 
this  knowledge  it  must  remain  unintelligible  to  you.  This  remark 
holds  good,  also,  of  what  I  have  told  you  on  the  subject  of  the 
needles  of  different  degrees  of  sharpness. 

"It  is  curious,  my  dear  sir,  to  notice  how  at  one  and  the  same 
time  the  point  combines  a  certain  degree  of  softness  and  of  pre- 
cision ;  those  who  draw  with  the  pen  ought  also  to  be  admirers  of 
etching.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  my  lines  are  too  thick  ;  I 
have  already  laid  several  of  them,  and  the  varnish  is  no  longer 
visible  ;  I  am  afraid  I  have  taken  it  up  altogether." 

You  need  not  feel  any  uneasiness  about  that  ;  it  is  simply  owing 
to  the  irradiation  of  the  copper,  the  brilliancy  of  which  the  screen 
does  not  completely  subdue.  The  bright  line  is  made  to  look 
broader  than  it  really  is  by  the  brilliant  gloss  of  the  metal.  But 
if  you  lay  a  piece  of  tracing-paper  on  the  plate  you  will  see  the 
lines  as  they  really  are  ;  that  is  to  say,  with  plenty  of  space 
between  them.  By  the  aid  of  a  lens  you  can  convince  yourself 
still  more  easily  ;  you  will  often  have  occasion  to  avail  yourself  of 
this  instrument  to  enable  you  to  do  fine  work  with  greater  facility, 
or  to  give  you  a  better  insight  into  what  you  have  already  done. 

As  the  irradiation  of  which  we  have  just  spoken  is  apt  to 
deceive  us  in  regard  to  the  quantity  of  the  work  done,  we  may 
happen  to  find  less  of  it  than  we  expected  when  the  plate  has 
been  bitten.  Plates  which  to  the  beginner  seem  to  be  quite  elabo- 
rately worked,  present  to  the  acid  lines  widely  spaced  and  insuffi- 
cient in  number,  thus  necessitating  retouches.  It  is  essential, 
therefore,  in  principle  (except  in  the  special  cases  to  be  pointed 
out  hereafter),  to  give  to  our  work,  in  its  first  stages,  all  the  devel- 
opment that  is  necessary. 

I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  you  must  j^rovide  yourself  with  a  very 
soft  brush,  say  a  badger,  which,  from  time  to  time,  you  must  pass 
lightly  over  your  plate  so  as  to  remove  the  small  particles  of  var- 
nish raised  by  the  needle.  Otherwise  you  will  not  be  able  to  see 
properly  what  you  have  been  doing. 


DRAWING  ON  THE  PLATE  WITH  THE  NEEDLE.    19 

Continue,  and  follow  your  own  feeling  ;  work  away  without  fear 
of  going  wrong  ;  some  of  your  errors  you  will  be  able  to  remedy. 
Thus,  if  you  have  made  a  mistake,  you  can  lay  a  thin  coat  of  liquid 
varnish  over  the  spoiled  part  by  means  of  a  brush  ;  in  a  few 
seconds  the  varnish  will  have  dried,  and  you  can  make  your  cor- 
rection. You  can  employ  this  method  for  the  correction  of  a 
faulty  line,  or  to  restore  a  place  which  should  have  remained  white, 
but  which  you  have  inadvertently  shaded. 

Here  I  shall  stop  for  the  present,  and  shall  close  by  saying, 
May  good  luck  attend  your  point,  as  well  as  your  acid  !  There  is 
nothing  more  to  be  said  to  you  until  after  your  plate  has  been 
bitten. 


20  A   TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 


CHAPTER   III. 

BITING. 

27.  Bordering  the  Plate.  —  This  work  took  some  time.  Our 
young  student,  impatient  to  see  the  transformation  wrought  by 
the  acid,  came  back  without  keeping  me  waiting  for  him. 

"  Hurry  up  !  A  tray,  acid,  and  all  the  accessories  !  " 
Instead  of  using  a  tray,  I  tell  him,  we  can  avail  ourselves  of 
another  method,  which  is  used  by  many  engravers,  and  which 
consists  in  bordering  the  plate  with  wa.\.  This  wax,^  having 
been  softened  in  warm  water,  is  flattened  out  into  long  strips, 
and  is  fastened  hermetically  and  vertically  around  the  edges  of 
the  plate,  so  that,  when  hardened,  it  forms  the  walls  of  a  vessel,, 
the  bottom  of  which  is  represented  by  the  design  drawn  with  the 
point.  To  avoid  dangerous  leaks,  heat  a  key,  and  pass  it  along 
the  wax  where  it  adheres  to  the  plate  ;  the  wax  melts,  and,  on 
rehardening,  offers  all  possible  guarantees  of  solidity.  We  now 
pour  the  acid  on  the  plate  thus  converted  into  a  tray,  and  as  we 
have  taken  care  to  form  a  lip  in  one  of  the  angles  made  by  the 
bordering  wax,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  pour  off  the  liquid  after 
each  biting.  This  proceeding  is  useful  in  the  case  of  plates  which 
are  too  large  for  the  tray.  Otherwise,  however,  I  prefer  a  tray 
made  of  gutta-percha  or  porcelain. 

28.  The  Tray.  —  Let  us  now  install  ourselves  at  this  table, 
and  let  us  cover  the  margin  and  the  back  of  the  plate  with  a  thick 
coat  of  stopping-out  varnish.  As  soon  as  the  varnish  is  perfectly 
dry,  we  place  the  plate  into  the  tray  standing  horizontally  on  the 
table,  and  pour  on  acid  enough  to  cover  it  to  the  height  of  about 
a  centimetre.  This  depth,  which  is  sufficient  for  biting,  allows 
the  eye  to  follow  the  process  in  its  various  stages. 

29.  Strength  of  the  Acid.  —  This  acid  is  fresh,  and  has  not  yet 
been  used  ;  bought  at  forty  degrees,  I  mix  it  with  an  equal  quan- 


BITING.  21 

tity  of  water,  which  reduces  it  to  twenty  degrees.  This  is  the 
strength  generally  adopted  for  ordinary  biting.  Its  color  is  clear, 
and  slightly  yellow  ;  but  as  soon  as  it  takes  up  the  copper  it  be- 
comes blue,  and  then  green.  As,  in  its  present  state,  it  would  act 
too  impetuously,  I  add  to  it  a  small  quantity  of  acid  which  has 
been  used  before.  You  may  also  throw  a  few  scraps  of  copper 
into  it  the  day  before  using  it  ;  the  old  etchers  used  for  this  pur- 
pose a  copper  coin,  larger  or  smaller,  according  to  the  volume  of 
the  bath.' 

30.  Label  your  Bottles  ! — One  day,  one  of  my  pupils,  having 
a  bad  cold,  did  not  notice  the  difference  between  the  smell  of  the 
acid  and  that  of  the  turpentine,  and  so  plunged  a  plate  which 
he  desired  to  bite,  into  a  bath  of  the  latter  fluid.  "  It 's  queer,"  he 
said,  "  this  won't  bite,  and  yet  the  varnish  scales  off.  .  .  .  The  lines 
keep  enlarging,  and  run  into  one  another  !  What  does  this  curi- 
ous medley  mean,  which  appears  on  the  plate  .''  "  It  was  simple 
enough.  The  spirits  of  turpentine  had  dissolved  the  ground,  and 
consequently  the  plate  developed  a  shining  and  radiating  surface 
before  the  eyes  of  our  wondering  student,  as  if  it  had  just  left  the 
hands  of  the  plate-maker. 

Advice  to  those  who  are  absent-minded,  and  who  are  liable  to 
mistake  fluids  which  look  alike  for  one  another,  —  Label  your 
bottles  ! 

31.  The  First  Biting.  —  Let  us  make  haste  now,  I  say  to  my 
pupil,  to  do  our  biting.  As  the  heat  of  the  day  abates,  the  acid 
becomes  less  active  ;  and  besides,  to  judge  by  the  delicate  charac- 
ter of  the  original  we  are  to  render,  we  shall  need  at  least  two  or 
three  hours,  all  told,  for  this  operation.  The  task  before  us  con- 
sists in  the  reproduction  of  a  given  work,  the  merit  of  which  lies 
in  the  gradation  in  the  various  distances.  It  needs  time  and  at- 
tention to  be  able  to  carry  all  the  necessary  processes  successfully 
into  practice. 

It  will  be  plain  to  you,  from  what  I  have  just  said,  that  the  op- 
eration you  are  about  to  engage  in  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  in 
the  etcher's  practice.  There  is  the  plate  in  the  acid  ;  the  liquid 
has  taken  hold  of  the  copper  ;  but  your  sky  must  be  light,  and  a 
prolonged  corrosion  would  therefore  be  hurtful  to  it.  Hence  we 
take  the  plate  out  of  the  bath,  pass  it  through  pure  water,  so  that 


22  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

no  acid  is  left  in  the  lines,  and  cover  it  with  several  sheets  of 
blotting-paper,  which,  being  pressed  against  it  by  the  hand,  dries 
the  plate.  We  shall  have  to  go  through  the  same  process  after 
each  partial  biting,  because  if  the  plate  were  moist,  the  stopping- 
out  varnish  which  we  arc  going  to  apply  to  it  would  not  adhere. 

32.  The  Use  of  the  Feather.  —  You  noticed  the  lively  ebul- 
litions on  the  plate,  which  took  place  twice  in  succession.  After 
the  first,  I  passed  this  feather  lightly  over  the  copper,  to  show  you 
its  use.  Its  vane  removed  the  bubbles  which  adhered  to  the  lines. 
This  precaution  is  necessary,  especially  when  the  ebullitions 
acquire  some  intensity  and  are  prolonged,  to  facilitate  the  biting, 
as  the  gas  by  which  the  bubbles  are  formed  keeps  the  acid  out 
of  the  lines.  If  these  bubbles  are  not  destroyed,  the  absence  of 
biting  in  the  lines  is  shown  in  the  proofs  by  a  series  of  little  white 
points.  Such  points  are  noticeable  in  some  of  the  plates  etched 
by  Perelle,  who,  it  seems,  ignored  this  precaution. 

33.  Stopping  Out.  — The  two  rapid  ebullitions  which  you  saw 
may  serve  you  as  a  standard  of  measurement  ;  the  biting  pro- 
duced by  them  must  be  very  light,  and  sufficient  for  the  tone  of 
the  sky.  You  may,  therefore,  cover  the  entire  sky  with  stopping- 
out  varnish  by  means  of  a  brush,  taking  care  to  stop  short  just 
this  side  of  the  outlines  of  the  other  distances.  The  importance 
of  mixing  lamp-black  with  your  stopping-out  varnish  to  thicken 
it,  comes  in  just  here  ;  because  if  it  remained  in  its  liquid  state,  it 
might  be  drawn  by  capillary  attraction  into  the  lines  of  those 
parts  which  you  desire  to  reserve,  and  thus,  by  obstructing  them, 
might  stop  the  biting  in  places  where  it  ought  to  continue.  Wait 
till  the  varnish  has  become  perfectly  dry  ;  you  can  assure  your- 
self of  this  by  breathing  upon  it  ;  if  it  remains  brilliant,  it  is  still 
soft,  and  the  acid  will  eat  into  it  ;  but  as  soon  as  it  is  dry  it  will 
assume  a  dull  surface  under  your  breath. '^ 

34.  Effect  of  Temperature  on  Biting.  —  Let  us  now  return 
the  plate  to  the  bath,  to  obtain  the  values  of  the  other  distances. 
The  temperature  has  a  great  effect  on  the  intensity  of  the  ebulli- 
tions, and  it  is  hardly  possible  to  depend  on  it  absolutely  as  a 
fixed  basis  on  which  to  rest  a  calculation  of  the  time  necessary 
for  each  biting,  as  its  own  variability  renders  it  difficult  to  appre- 
ciate the  aid  to  be  received  from  it.      In  winter,  for  instance,  with 


BITING.  23 

the  same  strength  of  acid,  it  needs  four  or  five  times  as  much 
time  to  reach  the  same  result  as  in  summer,  so  that  on  very  hot 
days  the  biting  progresses  so  rapidly  that  the  plate  cannot  be  lost 
sight  of  for  a  single  moment  without  risk  of  over-biting. 

35.  Biting  continued. — We  have  now  obtained  several  moder- 
ate ebullitions,  and  as  it  would  not  do  to  exaggerate  the  tone  of  the 
mountain  in  the  background,  it  is  time  to  withdraw  the  plate  once 
more.     Uncover  a  single   line  by   removing    the  ground,   either 
with  the  nail  of  your  finger  or  with  a  very  small  brush  dipped  into 
spirits  of  turpentine,  to  e.xamine  whether  it  is  deeply  enough  bitten 
for  the  distance  which  it  is  to  represent.     If  the  depth  is  not  suf- 
ficient, cover  it  with   stopping-out  varnish,  and   bite  again.      This 
is  not  necessary,  however,  in  our  present  case,  and  you  may  there- 
fore stop  out  the  whole  background.      Remember,  if  you  please, 
that  the  line  must  look  less  heavy  than  it  is  to  show  in  the  proof; 
for  you  must  take  into  account   the    black   color  of  the  printing- 
ink.     With  your  brush  go  over  the  edges  of  the  trees  which  are 
to  be  relieved  rather  lightly  against  the  sky,  as  well  as  over  that 
part  of  the  shadow  in  this   tower  which  blends  with  the  light. 
There  are  also  some  delicate  passages  in  the  figure  of  the  woman 
in  the  foreground,  in   the  details  of  the  plants,  and  in  the  folds 
of  this  tent   (PI.  I").      Stop  out  all  these,  and  do  not  lose  sight  of 
the  values  of  the  original  (PI.  II.).      Make  use  of  the  brush  to 
revarnish  several  places  which  are  scaling  off  on   the  margin  and 
the  back  of  the  plate.      The  temperature  is  favorable  ;  the  ebulli- 
tions come  on  without  letting  us  wait  long,  and  the  plate  is  bluing 
rapidly.     I  do  not  like  to  see  these  operations  drag  on  ;  in  winter, 
therefore,  I  do  my  biting  near  the  fire.     We  soon  acquire  a  pas- 
sion for  biting,  and  take  an  ever-growing  interest  in  it,  which   is 
incessantly  sharpened  by  thinking  of  the  result  to  which  we  as- 
pire.    Hence  the  desire  of  constant  observation,  and  that  assi- 
duity in  following  all  the  phases  of  the  biting-in. 

I  notice  that  the  acid  does  not  act  on  certain  parts  of  your 
work  ;  you  will  find  out  soon  enough  what  that  means. 

36.  Treatment  of  the  Various  Distances. —  "I  am  thinking 
just  now  of  what  you  told  me  in  regard  to  the  background:  — 
that  more  work  ought  to  be  put  into  it  than  into  the  fore- 
ground." 


24  A   TREATISE   ON    ETCHING. 

Nothing,  indeed,  is  simpler.  You  understand  that  the  back- 
ground, which  is  bitten  in  quite  Hghtly,  must  show  very  delicate 
lines,  while  in  the  middle  distance  and  in  the  foreground  the  lines 
arc  enlarged  by  the  action  of  successive  bitings.  When  it  comes 
to  the  printing,  the  quantity  of  ink  received  by  these  various  lines 
will  be  in  proportion  to  the  values  which  you  desired  to  obtain, 
and  in  the  proofs  you  will  have  a  variety  of  lighter  or  stronger 
tones,  giving  you  the  needed  gradations  in  the  various  distances. 
It  follows  from  this  that,  if  you  had  worked  too  sparingly  on  the 
distances  which  receive  only  a  light  biting,  you  could  not  have 
reached  the  value  of  the  tone  which  you  strove  to  get,  and  if  you 
had  worked  too  closely  on  those  parts  which  require  continued 
biting,  you  would  have  had  a  black  and  indistinct  tone,  because 
the  lines,  which  are  enlarged  by  the  acid,  and  consequently  keep 
approaching  one  another,  would  finally  have  run  together  into  one 
confused  mass,  producing  what  in  French  is  called  a  crevé  (blotch). 
In  an  etching  the  space  between  the  lines  must  be  made  to 
serve  a  purpose  ;  for  the  paper  seen  between  the  black  strokes 
gives  delicacy,  lightness,  and  transparency  of  tone. 

37.  The  Crevé.  —  Its  Advantages  and  Disadvantages.  — 
In  very  skilled  hands  the  crevé  is  a  means  of  eft'ect.  If  you  wish 
to  obtain  great  depth  in  a  group  of  trees,  in  a  wall,  in  very  deep 
shadows,  you  will  risk  nothing  by  intermingling  your  lines  pictu- 
resquely and  biting  them  vigorously.  In  this  way  you  can 
produce  tones  of  velvety  softness,  and  at  the  same  time  of  ex- 
traordinary vigor.  Similarly,  you  may  strike  a  fine  note  by 
means  of  running  together  several  lines  which,  if  sufficiently 
bitten,  will  form  but  a  single  broad  one  of  great  solidity  and 
power.  It  is,  indeed,  only  the  exaggeration  of  this  expedient, 
which,  by  unduly  enlarging  the  limits  of  the  broad  line  just  spoken 
of,  and  thus  producing  a  large  and  deep  surface  between  them, 
constitutes  the  crei<é  properly  so  called  ;  the  printing  ink  has  no 
hold  in  this  flat  hollow,  and  a  gray  spot  in  the  proof  is  the  result. 
I  have  warned  you  of  the  accident  ;  later  on  you  shall  hear  some- 
thing of  the  remedy.  We  will  now  continue  our  biting.  Plunge 
your  plate  into  the  bath  again,  if  )ou  please. 

38.  Means  of  ascertaining  the  Depth  of  the  Lines. —  "My 
dear  sir,  I  see  that  my  thawing  turns  black;  it  disappears  alniDst 


BITING.  25 

entirely,  and  is  lost  in  the  color  of  the  ground.^  I  am  quite  per- 
plexed. My  mind  endeavors  to  penetrate  beneath  this  varnish, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  witness  the  mysterious  birth  of  my  œuvre. 
See  these  violent  ebullitions  !     What  do  you  think  of  them  .''  " 

Let  them  go  on  a  moment  longer,  and  then  withdraw  your 
plate.  We  have  now  arrived  at  a  point  where  the  eye  cannot 
judge  of  the  work  of  the  acid  as  easily  as  before  ;  henceforth  we 
must,  therefore,  examine  the  depth  of  our  bitings  by  uncovering 
a  single  line,  as,  for  instance,  this  one  here  in  the  ground.  Or 
we  may  even  lay  bare,  by  the  aid  of  spirits  of  turpentine,  a  part  of 
the  foreground,  provided,  however,  that  we  must  not  forget  to 
cover  it  again  with  the  brush.  This  will  give  us  an  idea  of  the 
total  effect  so  far  produced  by  the  biting,  and  we  can  then  regu- 
late the  partial  bitings  which  are  still  to  follow,  either  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  time  employed  on  those  that  have  gone  before,  or 
by  the  intensity  of  the  ebullitions,  the  action  of  which  on  the 
copper  we  have  already  studied.  You  perceive  that,  while  it  is 
difficult  to  fix  a  standard  of  time  for  the  bitings  at  the  beginning 
of  the  operation,  it  is  yet  possible  to  calculate  those  to  come  by 
what  we  have  so  far  done. 

39.  The  Rules  which  govern  the  Biting  are  subordinated 
to  various  Causes.  —  In  reality,  it  is  impossible  to  establish 
fixed  rules  for  the  biting,  for  the  following  reasons  :  — 

1.  Owing  to  the  varying  intensity  of  the  stroke  of  the  needle. 
The  etcher  who  confines  himself  to  gently  baring  his  copper  must 
bite  longer  than  he  who  attacks  his  plate  more  vigorously,  and 
therefore  exposes  it  more  to  the  action  of  the  acid. 

2.  Owing  to  the  different  quality  of  the  plates. 

3.  Owing  to  the  difference  in  temperature  of  the  surrounding 
air  :  —  of  this  we  have  before  spoken. 

4.  Owing  to  difference  of  strength  in  the  acid,  as  it  is  impossi- 
ble always  to  have  it  of  absolutely  the  same  number  of  degrees. 
At  15°  to  18°  the  biting  is  gentle  and  slow;  at  20°  it  is  moder- 
ate ;  at  22°  to  24°  it  becomes  more  rapid.  It  would  be  dangerous 
to  employ  a  still  higher  degree  for  the  complete  biting-in  of  a 
plate,  especially  in  the  lighter  parts. 

40.  Strong  Acid  and  Weak  Acid.  —  It  is,  nevertheless,  possi- 
ble to  put   such   strong   acid   to   good  service.     A  fine  gray  tint 


26  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

may,  for  instance,  be  imparted  to  a  well-worked  sky  by  passing  a 
broad  brush  over  it,  charged  with  acid  at  40°.  But  the  operation 
must  be  performed  with  lightning  speed,  and  the  plate  must  in- 
stantly be  plunged  into  pure  water. 

As  a  corollary  of  the  fourth  cause,  it  is  well  to  know  that  an 
acid  overcharged  with  copper  loses  much  of  its  force,  although  it 
remains  at  the  same  degree.  Thus  an  acid  taken  at  20°,  but 
heavily  charged  with  copper  from  having  been  used,  will  be  found 
to  be  materially  enfeebled,  and  to  bite  more  slowly  than  fresh 
acid  at  15'  to  18°.  To  continue  to  use  it  in  this  condition  would 
be  dangerous,  because  there  is  no  longer  any  affinity  between  the 
liquid  and  the  copper,  and  if,  under  such  circumstances,  you  were 
to  trust  to  the  appearance  of  biting  (which  would  be  interminable, 
besides),  you  would  find,  on  removing  the  varnish,  that  the  plate 
had  merely  lost  its  polish  where  the  lines  ought  to  be,  without 
having  been  bitten.  It  is  best,  therefore,  always  to  do  your  biting 
with  fresh  acid,  constantly  renewed,  as  the  results  will  be  more 
equal,  and  you  will  become  habituated  to  certain  fixed  conditions. 

Some  engravers,  of  impetuous  spirit  and  impatient  of  results, 
do  their  biting  with  acid  of  a  high  degree,  while  others,  more  pru 
dent,  prefer  slow  biting,  which  eats  into  the  copper  uniformly  and 
regularly,  and  hence  they  employ  a  lower  degree.  In  this  way 
the  varnish  remains  intact,  and  there  is  not  that  risk  of  losing  the 
purity  of  line  which  always  attends  the  employment  of  a  stronger 
acid. 

41.  Strength  of  Acid  in  relation  to  certain  Kinds  of  Work. — 
Experience  has  also  shown  that,  with  the  same  proportion  in  the 
time  employed,  the  values  are  accentuated  more  quickly  and  more 
completely  by  a  strong  than  by  a  mild  acid  ;  this  manifests  itself 
at  the  confluence  of  the  lines,  where  the  acid  would  play  mischief 
if  the  limit  of  time  were  overstepped. 

Another  effect  of  biting  which  follows  from  the  preceding,  is 
noticeable  in  lines  drawn  far  apart.  Of  isolated  lines  the  acid 
takes  hold  very  slowly,  and  they  may  therefore  be  executed  with 
a  cutting  point  and  bitten  in  with  tolerably  strong  acid. 

The  reverse  takes  place  when  the  lines  are  drawn  very  closely 
together  ;  the  biting  is  very  lively.  Work  of  this  kind,  therefore, 
demands  a  needle  of  moderate  sharpness  and  a  mild  acid. 


BITING.  27 

Hence,  interweaving  lines  and  very  dose  lines  are  bitten  more 
deeply  by  the  same  acid  than  lines  drawn  parallel  to  each  other, 
and  widely  spaced,  although  they  may  all  have  been  executed 
with  the  same  needle.  If,  in  an  architectural  subject,  you  have 
drawn  the  lines  with  the  same  instrument,  but  far  apart  on  one 
side,  and  closely  and  crossing  each  other  on  the  other,  you  must 
not  let  them  all  bite  the  same  length  of  time,  if  3iou  wish  them 
to  hold  the  same  distance.  It  will  be  necessary  to  stop  out  the 
latter  before  the  former,  otherwise  you  will  have  a  discordant 
difference  in  tone.  There  will  be  inequality  in  the  biting,  but  it 
will  not  be  perceptible  to  the  eye,  as  the  general  harmony  has 
been  preserved.     (See  PI.  IV.   Fig.  i.) 

In  short,  strong  acid  rather  widens  than  deepens  the  lines  ; 
mild  acid,  on  the  contrary,  eats  into  the  depth  of  the  copper,  and 
produces  lines  which  are  shown  in  relief  on  the  paper,  and  are 
astonishingly  powerful  in  color.  This  is  especially  noticeable  in 
the  etchings  of  Piranesi,  who  used  hard  varnish. 

42.  Last  Stages  of  Biting. —  But  let  us  return  to  our  opera- 
tion. You  noticed  that  I  allowed  your  plate  to  bite  quite  a  while  ; 
this  was  necessary  to  detach  your  foreground  and  middle-ground 
vigorously  from  the  sky  and  the  background.  You  may  now  stop 
out  the  trees,  the  tower,  and  the  tent  in  the  middle-ground,  and  the 
vertical  part  of  the  bridge,  which  is  in  half-tint,  and  then  proceed. 
Note  that  the  number  of  bitings  is  not  fi.xed,  but  depends  on  the 
effect  to  be  reached. 

"  In  that  case  it  is  to  be  hoped,  for  the  sake  of  my  apprentice 
hands,  that  I  shall  never  have  many  bitings  to  do.  Just  look  at 
my  fingers  !  They  are  in  a  nice  state.  The  prettiest  yellow  skin 
you  ever  saw  !  " 

Oh,  don't  let  that  color  trouble  you  ;  it  will  be  all  black  by 
to-morrow. 

"  Much  obliged  to  you  for  this  bit  of  consolation  !  " 

Besides,  it  will  take  you  a  week  to  grow  a  new  skin.  In  fu- 
ture you  must  soak  your  fingers  in  pure  water  whenever  you  have 
got  them  into  the  acid.  You  might  have  used  india-rubber  finger- 
gloves  ;  they  are  excellent  to  keep  the  hands  clean,  but  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  trouble  about  them  for  the  present,  as  we  are  al- 
most done.^*'     I  think  you  may  now  stop  out  all  that  remains,  with 


28  A    TREATISE    0\    ETCHING. 

the  exception  of  the  darkest  places  in   the   foreground,  to  which 
we  must  give  a  final  biting. 

There  !  Now  we  've  got  it  !  Withdraw  your  plate  for  the  last 
time,  and  as  there  are  some  very  widely  spaced  lines  in  this  tree 
in  the  foreground,  you  will  risk  nothing  by  giving  them  a  final 
touch  with  pure  acid.  The  strongest  accent  in  the  landscape  rests 
on  this  spot  ;,it  determines  the  color  of  the  whole.  By  this  ap- 
plication of  pure  acid  we  shall  get  a  vigorous  tone,  a  powerful 
effect. 

I  may  as  well  tell  you  here  that  it  is  sometimes  advisable  to  add 
a  small  quantity  of  pure  acid  to  the  bath  towards  the  end  of  the 
operation,  so  as  to  increase  the  activity  of  the  biting  on  certain 
parts  of  the  plate  without  running  into  excess.  But  as  the  place 
now  under  consideration  is  restricted,  we  shall  adopt  another 
means,  so  as  to  limit  the  action  of  the  acid  to  the  given  point. 
See  here  :  I  let  fall  a  few  drops  ;  the  pure  acid  eats  into  the  cop- 
per with  great  vehemence  ;  the  metal  turns  green,  and  the  ebul- 
lition subsides.  Now  take  up  the  exhausted  liquid  with  a  piece 
of  blotting-paper,  and  let  us  commence  again.  Under  these 
newly  added  drops  of  fresh  acid,  the  varnish  is  ready  to  scale  oft", 
the  lines  sputter,  and  assume  a  strange  yellow  color  ;  these  golden 
vapors  announce  that  the  operation  is  finished. 

What  follows,  is  the  task  of  the  printer  ;  his  press  will  tell  us 
whether  we  have  won,  or  whether  we  have  been  mated.  Clean 
the  plate  with  spirits  of  turpentine,  using  your  fingers,  or  with  a 
very  clean  old  rag  (calico,  if  possible),  if  you  are  afraid  to  soil 
your  hands.  Be  sure  to  have  the  plate  well  cleaned,  but  take 
care  not  to  scratch  it. 

The  acid,  which  may  be  of  use  hereafter,  we  will  turn  into  a 
glass  bottle  with  a  ground  stopper,  and  will  store  it  in  some  safe 
place. 


FINISHING   THE    PLATE.  29 


CHAPTER    IV. 

FINISHING    THE     PLATE. 

43.  Omissions.  —  Insufficiency  of  the  Work  so  far  done.  — 

The  result  you  have  obtained,  I  tell  my  pupil,  as  he  shows  a  proof 
of  \.\i&  first  state  of  his  plate  to  me,  is  not  final.  Your  work  needs 
a  few  retouches  and  slight  modifications,  not  counting  the  little 
irregularities  which  I  had  foreseen,  and  which  it  will  be  easy 
enough  to  repair.  We  will  proceed  in  order.  (See  PI.  P).  To 
commence  with,  here  are  certain  parts  which  are  sufficiently 
bitten,  and  which,  nevertheless,  are  indecisive  in  tone,  and  do  not 
hold  their  place.  I  allude  to  the  columns  and  to  the  trees  in  the 
further  distance  ;  one  feels  that  there  is  something  wanting  there, 
which  must  be  added.  You  must,  therefore,  re-cover  your  plate, 
in  the  manner  already  known  to  you,  either  with  transparent 
ground,  or  with  ordinary  etching-ground,  just  as  if  the  plate  had 
never  yet  been  touched  by  the  needle. 

44.  Transparent  Ground  for  Retouching.  —  The  white  or 
transparent  ground  or  varnish  ^^  admirably  allows  all  previous  work 
to  show  through.  It  is  preferred  to  the  ordinary  ground  for 
working  over  parts  that  have  been  insufficiently  bitten,  on  account 
of  its  transparency,  which  leaves  even  the  finest  lines  visible,  while 
under  the  ordinary  ground  these  lines  might  be  lost  entirely.  It 
will  be  an  easy  matter  for  you  to  combine  the  new  work  with  the 
old  ;  the  very  slight  shadow  thrown  on  the  copper  by  the  trans- 
parent ground  will  give  a  blackish  appearance  to  your  lines,  which 
may  serve  as  a  guide  to  you.  and,  with  your  proof  before  your 
eyes,  you  will  readily  succeed  in  finding  the  places  which  need 
retouching.  To  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  you  can  indicate 
the  retouches  on  your  proof  with  a  lead-pencil. 

The  transparent  ground  has  occasionally  been  found  to  crack 
and   scale  off,  when  left  in   the  bath  for  a  long  while,  or  when 


30  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

Strong  acid  is  used.  But  as  you  are  only  going  to  use  it  for  light 
and,  consequently,  short  biting,  you  need  not  fear  this  danger. 
Another  inconvenience,  which  may  easily  be  prevented,  consists 
in  the  presence  of  small  bubbles  of  air,  which  appear  on  the  var- 
nish as  soon  as  it  begins  to  melt.  Heat  the  plate  just  to  the 
proper  point  of  melting,  and  dab  it  vigorously  for  some  length  of 
time,  until  the  varnish  cools  ;  then  hold  the  back  of  the  plate  flat 
to  the  fire  ;  the  varnish  melts  again,  and  the  rest  of  the  bubbles  dis- 
appear. II  some  of  them  should  prove  to  be  obstinate,  cover  them 
very  lightly  with  the  brush,  as  otherwise  the  acid  will  penetrate 
through  the  passages  thus  left  open,  and  will  make  little  holes  in 
the  copper,  which,  on  removing  the  varnish,  will  cause  an  un- 
pleasant surprise.     You  shall  hear  more  of  this  further  on. 

43.  Ordinary  Ground  used  for  Retouching.  —  Biting  the  Re- 
touches. —  Ordinary  etching-ground,  such  as  we  used  in  the  first 
instance,  does  not  show  the  work  previously  done  as  well  as  the 
transparent  ground,  but  the  later  additions  are  seen  all  the  better 
on  it.  It  may  be  used  in  its  natural  state,  or  it  may  be  smoked. 
It  is  preferable  to  the  transparent  varnish,  whenever  the  work 
already  achieved  is  deeply  bitten,  and  hence  easily  seen. 

In  the  present  case  my  advice  is  that  you  use  the  ordinary 
ground.  Having  made  your  retouches,  introduce  your  plate  into 
the  bath,  and  proceed  as  before,  by  partial  biting,  endeavoring,  as 
much  as  possible,  to  obtain  the  same  intensity  of  tone.  These 
additions,  thus  bitten  by  themselves,  will  mingle  with  the  lines 
previously  drawn,  and  now  protected  by  the  varnish. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  judge  of  the  additions,  especially  on 
transparent  varnish,  until  they  have  been  bitten  in.  But,  if  you 
should  then  find  that  you  have  not  yet  reached  your  point,  you 
can  revarnish  the  plate  once  more,  and  comj^lete  the  parts  that 
appear  to  be  unfinished. 

I  must  also  call  your  attention  to  the  fact,  that  all  lines  drawn 
on  transjiarent  ground  seem  to  thicken  most  singularly,  as  soon 
as  the  acid  begins  to  work.     But  do  not  let  that  deceive  you. 

Now  look  at  this  spot  in  the  immediate  foreground  (PI.  I"), 
which  has  a  somewhat  coarse  appearance.  It  is  much  softer  in 
the  original  (represented  by  PI.  II.).  You  must  add  a  few  lines, 
and  must  bite  them  rather  lightly  ;  they  will  mingle  agreeably 


FINISHING    THE    PLATE.  31 

with  the  energetic  lines  of  the  first  state.  You  may  put  the  large 
trees  through  the  same  process,  and  you  will  find  that  they  gain 
in  lightness  by  it.  Later  on,  when  you  have  acquired  more 
experience,  you  will  occasionally  find  it  handy  to  make  these 
additions  between  two  bitings.  You  will  thus  reach  the  desired 
result  without  the  necessity  of  regrounding  your  plate. 

Sometimes,  when  using  strong  acid  for  these  retouches,  the  lines 
first  drawn  are  also  attacked  by  the  liquid.  In  that  case,  stop 
the  biting  immediately,  and  rest  contented  with  what  you  have 
got.  It  is  not  difïicult  to  understand  why  these  revarnished  lines 
should  commence  to  bite  again,  more  especially  if  they  are  deep  : 
the  acid,  finding  the  edges  of  the  lines  (which  are  sharp  and 
angular,  and  therefore  do  not  offer  much  hold  to  the  varnish)  but 
indifferently  protected,  attacks  them,  witht)UL  going  into  their 
depths.  The  ravages  thus  committed  along  the  edges  of  the 
lines  may  be  quite  disastrous  ;  and  it  is  well,  therefore,  whenever 
you  revarnish  a  plate,  to  give  additional  protection  to  those  parts 
which  are  not  to  be  retouched,  by  going  over  them  with  stopping- 
out  varnish. 

46.  Revarnishing  with  the  Brush. —  Instead  of  revarnishing 
with  the  dabber,  the  ground  may  also  be  laid  with  the  brush. 
For  this  purpose  you  can  use  the  stopping-out  varnish  mixed 
with  lamp-black.  Spread  a  coat  of  varnish  all  over  the  plate, 
using  a  very  soft  brush  ;  if  the  copper  should  not  be  perfectly 
covered  on  the  edges  of  the  deeply  etched  lines,  add  a  second  coat 
of  varnish.  Do  not  wait  till  the  varnish  has  become  too  dry  be- 
fore you  execute  the  retouches,  which,  of  course,  must  also  be 
bitten  in  as  usual.  Mixed  with  lamp-black,  the  stopping-oirt 
varnish  allows  even  the  finest  lines  to  be  seen,  which  would  not 
show  as  well  if  the  varnish  were  used  in  its  natural  state.  Many 
engravers  use  this  varnish  instead  of  the  transparent  ground. 

47.  Partial  Retouches.  —  Patching.  —  For  partial  retouches 
and  for  patching  the  stopping-out  varnish  is  also  used,  but  in  a 
simpler  and  more  expeditious  way.  Cover  the  part  in  question 
with  a  tolerably  thick  coat  of  varnish,  and  when  you  have  finished 
your  retouch,  slightly  moisten  the  lines  with  saliva,  to  prevent  the 
few  drops  of  acid  which  you  supply  from  your  bath  with  the  brush 
from  running  beyond  the  spot  on  which  they  are  to  act.     If  pure 


32  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

acid  is  used,  —  which  is  still  more  expeditious,  —  the  effervescence 
is  stopped  by  dabbinj^  with  a  piece  of  blotting-paper,  and  the 
operation  is  repeated  as  long  as  the  biting  does  not  appear  to  be 
sufficient.  For  very  delicate  corrections  it  is  advisable  not  to 
wait  until  the  first  ebullition  is  over  ;  but  it  must  be  left  to  the 
feeling  to  indicate  the  most  opportune  moment  for  the  application 
of  the  blotting-paper.  If  you  proceed  rapidly  and  cautiously,  you 
can  obtain  extremely  fine  lines  in  this  way,  as  you  have  had  occa- 
sion to  see  under  other  circumstances  (see  paragraph  40,  p.  25). 

You  may  recollect  that  I  spoke  of  lines  which  had  not  bitten  : 
1  alluded  to  this  spot  in  the  middle  of  the  bridge  (see  PI.  1°). 
You  did  not  bear  on  your  needle  sufficiently,  and  hence  it  did  not 
penetrate  clear  down  to  the  copper;  consequently,  after  having 
compared  the  proof  of  the  first  state  with  the  original  (PI.  II.), 
you  must  do  the  necessary  patching  according  to  the  instruction.s 
just  given  to  you. 

48.  Dry  Point.  —  Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  retouch,  or  to 
add  to  very  delicate  parts  of  the  plate,  such  as  the  extreme  dis- 
tance, or  any  other  part  very  lightly  bitten,  it  is  safer  to  use  the 
dry  point,  as  in  such  cases  retouching  by  acid  is  a  most  difficult 
thing  to  do.  The  tone  must  be  hit  exactly,  and  without  exag- 
geration. 

Your  plate  offers  an  opportunity  for  the  use  of  the  dry  point  : 
the  sky  and  the  mountain  are  partly  etched  ;  you  can  improve 
them  by  a  few  touches  of  the  dry  point. 

The  dry  point  is  held  in  a  perpendicular  position,  and  is  used 
on  the  bare  copper.  It  must  be  ground  with  a  cutting  edge,  and 
very  sharp,  so  that  it  may  freely  penetrate  into  the  copper,  and 
not  mcrclv  scratch  it.  You  cut  the  line  yourself,  regulating  its 
depth  by  the  amount  of  pressure  used,  and  according  to  the  tone 
of  the  p:irticular  passage  on  which  you  are  working.  For  patch- 
ing, it  is  more  frequently  used  in  delicate  passages  than  in  others, 
as,  even  with  great  pressure,  the  strength  of  a  dry  point  line  will 
always  be  below  that  of  a  line  deeply  bitten.  In  printing,  the 
dry  point  line  has  less  depth  of  color  than  the  bitten  line,  as  the 
acid  bites  into  the  copper  perpendicularly  at  right  angles  ;  while 
the  furrow  produced  by  the  dry  point,  which  offers  only  acute 
angles,  takes  up  less  ink,  although  it  appears  equally  broad.    Thi.s. 


FINISHING   THE    PLATE.  33 

inequality  disappears  if  a  plate  in  which  etched  lines  and  dry 
point  work  are  intermingled  is  re-bitten  ;  the  difference  in  tone 
is  then  equalized. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  difterence  in  the  appearance  of  etched 
lines  and  dry  point  work  produces  curious  effects.  Thus,  if  a 
passage  which  is  too  strong  and  appears  to  stand  out  is  to  be 
corrected,  a  few  touches  of  the  dry  point  will  be  sufficient  to 
soften  it,  and  to  push  it  back  to  another  distance. 

The  dry  point  is  not  only  used  for  retouching  ;  it  is  sometimes 
employed,  without  any  etching,  to  put  in  the  whole  background. 

49.  Use  of  the  Scraper  for  removing  the  Bur  thrown  up 
by  the  Dry  Point.  —  The  dry  point  work  being  finished,  the  bur 
thrown  up  by  the  instrument  must  be  removed.  The  bur  is  the 
ridge  raised  on  the  edge  of  the  line,  as  the  point  ploughs  through 
the  metal  ;  you  can  satisfy  yourself  of  its  existence  by  the  touch. 
In  printing,  the  ink  catches  in  this  ridge,  and  produces  blots. 
The  bur  is  removed  by  means  of  the  scraper,  an  instrument  with 
a  triangular  blade,  one  of  the  sides  of  which,  held  flat,  is  passed 
over  the  plate  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  of  the  stroke  of 
the  point,  and  so  as  to  take  the  line  obliquely.  You  need  not  feel 
any  anxiety  about  injuring  the  plate  ;  the  touch  will  tell  you 
when  the  bur  has  disappeared.  In  the  case  of  dry  point  lines 
crossing  one  another,  each  set  running  in  a  different  direction 
must  be  drawn  as  well  as  scraped  separately,  in  the  manner  just 
described  ;  otherwise  you  will  run  the  risk  of  closing  the  lines 
which  cross  the  path  of  the  scraper,  by  turning  the  bur  down  into 
the  furrows. 

50.  Reducing  Over-bitten  Passages. —  So  much  for  the  addi- 
tions. We  will  now  pass  on  to  the  very  opposite  :  the  shadow 
thrown  by  the  parapet,  and  the  ground  between  the  man  and  the 
woman,  have  been  over-bitten.  These  parts  do  not  harmonize 
with  the  neighboring  parts,  and  are  stronger  in  tone  than  the 
corresponding  parts  of  the  original. 

To  remedy  this,  there  are  four  means  at  your  command  :  — 
The  Burnisher.  The  Scraper. 

Charcoal.  Hammering  out. 

51.  The  Burnisher.  —  As  these  passages  are  limited  in  extent, 
and  not  very  deeply  bitten,  you  may  use  the  burnisher  to  reduce 


34  A    TREATISE    OX    ETCHING. 

them.  Moisten  it  with  saHva,  and  take  only  a  small  spot  at  a 
time,  holding  the  instrument  down  flat.  If  you  were  to  use  only 
the  end,  you  might  make  a  cavity  in  the  copper.  The  burnisher 
flattens  and  enlarges  the  surface  of  the  copper,  and  consequently 
diminishes  the  width  of  the  line.     The  tone,  therefore,  is  reduced. 

On  fine,  close,  and  equal  work  the  burnisher  does  excellent 
service,  the  effect  being  analogous  to  that  of  the  crumb  of  bread 
on  a  design  on  paper. 

It  is  less  efficacious  on  deeply  bitten  work,  because  it  rounds 
off  the  edges  of  the  lines  as  it  penetrates  into  the  furrows,  and 
thus  detracts  somewhat  from  the  freshness  of  tone,  —  an  unpleas- 
ant result,  which,  in  very  fine  work,  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
eye  to  see. 

You  may  use  the  burnisher  to  get  rid  of  certain  spots  produced 
in  the  foliage  by  lines  placed  too  closely  together,  and  by  the 
same  means  you  can  reduce  those  exaggerated  passages  in  the 
stone-work  of  the  right-hand  column. 

You  can  also  burnish  these  useless  little  blotches  in  the  moun- 
tains. 

52.  Charcoal.  —  Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  reduce  the  whole 
of  a  distance,  the  use  of  charcoal  is  to  be  preferred.  Charcoal 
made  of  willow,  or  of  other  soft  woods,  which  can  be  had  of  the 
plate-makers,  is  used  flat,  impregnated  with  oil  or  water  ;  it  must 
be  freed  from  its  bark,  as  this  would  scratch  the  plate.  It  wears 
the  metal  away  uniformly,  and  does  not  injure  the  crispness  of 
the  lines.  Rub  the  passage  to  be  reduced  with  the  charcoal, 
regulating  the  length  of  time  b}'  the  degree  of  delicacy  you  desire 
to  attain.  At  the  beginning  soak  your  charcoal  in  water,  so  as- 
leave  it  more  tooth  ;  then  clean  it.  and  continue  with  oil,  which 
reduces  the  wear  on  the  copper.  The  eye  is  sufficient  to  judge  of 
the  wear;  the  way  in  which  the  charcoal  takes  hold  of  the  copper, 
and  the  copper-colored  spots  which  it  shows,  may  serve  as  guides. 
As  the  effectiveness  of  the  different  kinds  of  charcoal  varies,  these 
divers  qualities  of  softness  and  coarseness  are  utilized  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  correction  to  be  made.  It  is  well  to  know, 
also,  that  it  takes  hokl  much  more  actively  if  used  in  the 
direction  of  the  grain,  than  transversely.  You  may,  according  to 
circumstances,  commence  with  a  piece  of  coal  having  considerable 


FINISHING    THE    PLATE.  35 

tooth,  continue  with  another  that  is  less  aggressive,  and  wind  up 
with  a  somewhat  soft  piece.  The  heavier  the  charcoal  the  coarser 
its  tooth,  the  lightest  being  the  softest.  The  plate  must  be 
washed,  so  as  to  keep  the  charcoal  always  clean  ;  as  otherwise  the 
dust  produced,  which  forms  a  paste,  will  wear  down  the  bottom  of 
the  furrows,  and  the  result,  in  the  proof,  will  be  dull  and  reddish 
lines. 

Charcoal  is  also  used  to  remove  the  traces  of  the  needle  in 
those  parts  of  the  plate  in  which  changes  were  made  while  the 
drawing  was  still  in   progress. 

53.  The  Scraper.  —  The  scraper  is  more  efficacious  than  the 
burnisher  in  the  case  of  small  places  that  have  been  deeply 
bitten.  If  the  scraper  is  sufficiently  sharp,  it  leaves  no  trace 
whatever  on  the  lowered  surface  of  the  copper. 

To  sum  up  :  — 

Charcoal  and  semper  are  used  to  remove  part  of  the  surface  of 
the  copper.  The  furrows,  having  been  reduced  in  depth,  receive 
less  ink  in  printing  ;  the  lines  gain  in  delicacy  in  the  impressions. 

The  burnisher  simply  displaces  the  copper  ;  chareoal  and  scraper 
wear  it  away.  It  follows  that  they  must  be  used  with  discern- 
ment. • 

54.  Hammering  Out  (Repoussage). — These  three  means  are 
employed  when  a  moderate  lowering  of  the  plate  is  required. 
When  it  becomes  necessary  to  go  down  to  half  the  thickness  of 
the  plate  or  more,  the  result  will  be  a  hollow,  which  will  show  as 
a  spot  in  printing.  In  that  case  recourse  is  had  to  the  fourth 
means  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  hammer  and  anvil.  Get  a  pair  of  com- 
passes with  curved  legs  {calipers)  ;  let  one  of  the  legs  rest  on 
the  spot  to  be  hammered  out  ;  the  other  leg  will  then  indicate 
the  place  on  the  back  of  the  plate  which  must  be  struck  with  the 
hammer  on  the  anvil.  In  this  way  places  which  have  been 
reduced  with  charcoal  or  scraper  may  be  brought  up  to  the  level 
of  the  plate  ;  but  if  the  lines  should  be  found  to  have  been  flat- 
tened, which  would  result  in  a  dull  tone  in  the  proofs,  it  will  be 
best  to  have  the  part  in  question  planed  out  entirely,  and  to  do  it 
over. 

55.  Finishing  the  Surface  of  the  Plate.  —  The  charcoal 
occasionally  leaves  traces  on  the  plate,  which  show  in  the  proof 


36  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

as  rather  too  strong  a  tint.  You  can  get  rid  of  them,  by  rub- 
bing with  a  piece  of  very  soft  linen,  and  the  paste  obtained  by 
grinding  charcoal  with  oil  on  a  fine  stone. 

By  the  same  process  the  whole  plate  is  tidied.  It  is  likely  to 
need  it,  as  it  has  undoubtedly  lost  some  of  its  freshness,  owing  to 
the  abuse  to  which  it  was  subjected  in  passing  through  all  these 
processes. 

Our  young  pupil,  having  executed  these  several  operations, 
and  bitten  his  retouched  plate,  submits  a  proof  to  my  inspection, 
which  I  compare  with  that  of  the  first  state  (Pis.  P  and  I.). 
Now  you  see,  I  say  to  him,  how  one  state  leads  to  another.  You 
have  come  up  to  the  harmony  of  the  original;  y  owx  second  state 
is  satisfactory,  and  so  there  is  no  need  of  having  recourse  to  var- 
nishing the  plate  a  third  time. 


ACCIDENTS.  37 


CHAPTER   V. 

ACCIDENTS. 

56.  Stopping-out  Varnish  dropped  on  a  Plate  while  Biting. 

—  You  are  just  in  time,  I  continued,  to  profit  by  an  accident 
wiiich  has  happened  to  me.  I  dropped  some  stopping-out  var- 
nish on  a  plate  while  it  was  biting  ;  it  has  spread  over  some  parts 
which  are  not  yet  sufificiently  bitten,  and  of  course  it  is  impossible 
to  go  on  now.  I  took  the  ground  off  the  plate,  and  had  this  proof 
pulled.  It  is  unequal  in  tone,  and  does  not  give  the  modelling 
which   I  worked  for. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?     Is  the  plate  lost  .■'  " 

57.  Revarnishing  with  the  Roller  for  Rebiting.  —  Oh,  no, 
indeed,  thanks  to  the  roller  for  revaruis/wig!  My  first  precaution 
will  be  to  clean  the  plate  very  carefully,  first  with  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine, until  the  linen  does  not  show  the  least  sign  of  soiling, 
and  then  with  bread.  Or,  having  used  the  turpentine,  I  might 
continue  the  cleaning  process  with  a  solution  of  potash,  after 
which  the  plate  must  be  washed  in  pure  water.  I  then  put  a  little 
ground,  specially  prepared  for  the  purpose,  on  a  second  plate, 
which  must  be  scrupulously  clean,  and  not  heated  ;  or,  better 
still,  I  apply  the  ground  directly  to  the  roller  itself  by  means  of  a 
palette-knife.  I  divide  this  second  plate  into  three  parts.  By 
passing  the  roller  over  the  first  part,  I  spread  the  ground  roughly 
over  it  ;  on  the  second  part  I  equalize  and  distribute  it  more 
regularly  ;  on  the  third,  finally,  I  finish  the  operation.  By  these 
repeated  rollings  a  very  thin  layer  of  ground  is  evenly  spread 
over  all  parts  of  the  surface  of  the  roller,  and  we  may  now  apply 
it  to  the  plate  which  is  to  be  rebitten. 

To  effect  this  purpose,  I  pass  the  roller  over  the  cold  plate 
carefully  and  with  very  slight  pressure,  repeating  the  process 
a  number  of  times  and  in  various  directions.     This  is  an  opera- 


38  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

tion  requiring  skill.  The  ground  adheres  only  to  the  surface  of 
the  plate,  without  penetrating  into  the  furrows,  although  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  prevent  the  filling  up  of  the  very  finest  lines. 
Having  thus  spread  the  ground,  and  having  assured  myself  that 
the  lines  are  all  right  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  reflection  as  I 
hold  the  plate  against  the  light,  I  rapidly  pass  a  burning  paper 
under  the  plate.  The  ground  is  slightly  heated,  and  solidifies  as 
it  cools. 

The  varnish  used  in  this  operation  is  the  ordinary  etching- 
ground  in  balls,  dissolved  in  oil  of  lavender  in  a  bath  of  warm 
water.  It  must  have  the  consistency  of  liquid  cream  ;  if  it  is  too 
thick,  add  a  little  oil  of  lavender. ^'^ 

Both  the  plate  and  the  roller  must  be  well  protected  against 
dust. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  clean  the  roller  after  the  operation  ;  only 
take  care  to  wipe  its  ends  with  the  palm  of  your  hand,  turning  it 
the  while,  so  as  to  remove  the  rings  of  varnish  which  may  have 
formed  there. 

If  the  lines  are  found  closed,  too  much  pressure  has  been  used 
on  the  roller  ;  if  the  ground  is  full  of  little  holes,  the  plate  has 
not  been  cleaned  well,  and  wherever  the  surface  of  the  copper  is 
exposed  the  acid  will  act  on  it.  There  is  nothing  to  be  done,  in 
both  cases,  but  to  wash  off  the  ground  with  spirits  of  turpentine, 
and  commence  anew. 

My  plate  is  now  in  the  same  state  in  which  it  was  when  I  with- 
drew it  from  the  bath.  I  stop  out  those  parts  which  are  suffi- 
ciently bitten,  and,  guided  by  my  proof,  I  can  proceed  to  continue 
the  biting  which  was  interrupted  by  the  accident. 

58.  Revarnishing  with  the  Roller  in  Cases  of  Partial  Re- 
biting. —  You  will  find  this  method  especially  valuable  whenever 
you  desire  to  strengthen  passages  that  arc  weak  in  tone.  And 
furthermore,  having  thus  revarnished  your  plate,  you  may  avail 
yourself  of  the  opportunity  of  giving  additional  finish.  But  if, 
before  revarnishing,  you  should  have  burnished  down  some  over- 
bitten  lines  in  a  passage  which  needs  rebiting,  you  will  find  that 
the  shallow  cavity  produced  by  the  burnisher  does  not  take  the 
ground  from  the  roller  ;  such  places  are  easily  detected  by  the 
brilliant  aspect  of  the   copper,  and  good  care  must  bfe  taken  to 


ACCIDENTS.  39 

cover  them  with  ground.  Again,  if,  before  proceeding  to  rebite, 
you  should  notice  certain  passages  which  are  strong  enough  as 
they  are,  either  because  the  copper  was  cut  by  the  point,  or 
■  because  the  lines  in  them  are  very  close,  you  must  cover  them 
up  with  the  brush.  The  same  thing  is  necessary  in  the  case  of 
the  excessively  black  spots  which  sometimes  manifest  themselves 
in  places  covered  by  irregularly  crossing  lines,  and  the  intensity 
of  which  it  would  be  useless  to  increase  still  further.  This  recom- 
mendation is  valuable  for  work  requiring  precision. 

59.  Revarnishing  with  the  Dabber  for  Rebiting.  —  For  par- 
tial rebiting  the  same  result  may  be  reached  by  applying  the 
ground  with  the  dabber.  Heat  your  plate,  and  surround  the  part 
to  be  rebitten  with  a  thick  coat  of  ordinary  etching-ground.  Now 
heat  your  dabber,  and  pass  it  over  the  ground.  Finally,  when 
the  dabber  is   thoroughly  impregnated  with   the  ground,  carry  it 

cautiously  and  little  by  little  over  the  part  in  question,  dabbing 
continually.  ^3 

60.  Revarnishing  with  the  Brush  for  Rebiting.  —  Let  me 
also  call  your  attention  to  an  analogous  case  which  may  arise.  If 
you  desire  to  increase  the  depth  of  the  biting  in  a  part  of  the  plate 
in  which  the  lines  are  rather  widely  apart,  you  may  cover  the  plate 
with  the  brush  and  stopping-out  varnish,  and  may  pass  the  needle 
through  the  lines  so  as  to  open  them  again.  You  can  then  rebite 
m  the  tray,  or  by  using  pure  acid,  or  by  allowing  acid  at  20°  to 
stand  on  the  part  in  question,  just  as  you  please. 

61.  Rebiting  a  Remedy  only.  —  Etchers  who  are  entitled  to 
be  considered  authorities  will  advise  you  to  avoid  as  much  as 
possible  all  rebiting  by  means  of  revarnishing.  as  it  results  in 
heavmess,  and  never  has  the  freshness  of  a  first  biting  obtained 
with  the  same  ground.  A  practised  eye  can  easily  detect  the 
difference.  Never  let  the  rebiting  be  more  than  a  quarter  of  the 
first  biting.  Use  the  process  as  a  remedy,  but  never  count  on  it 
as  a  part  of  your  regular  work. 

62.  Holes  in  the  Ground.  —  Having  once  taken  up  the  con- 
sideration of  the  little  mishaps  which  may  befall  the  etcher,  I  shall 
now  show  you  another  plate  in  which  the  sky  is  dotted  by  a  num- 
ber of  minute  holes  of  no  great  depth  {piques).  This  plate  has, 
no  doubt,  been  retouched,  and  the  ground  having  been  badly  laid, 


40  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

the  acid  played  mischief  with  it.  It  is  very  lucky  that  the  lines 
in  the  sky  are  widely  separated,  as  otherwise  these  holes  would 
be  inextricably  mixed  up  with  them.  We  can  rid  ourselves  of 
them  by  a  few  strokes  of  the  burnisher,  and  by  rubbing  with  char- 
coal-paste and  a  bit  of  fine  linen.  The  burnisher  alone  would 
give  too  much  polish  to  the  copper  ;  in  printing  the  ink  would 
leave  no  tint  on  the  plate  in  these  spots,  and  the  traces  of  the 
burnisher  would  show  as  white  marks  in  the  proofs.  To  avoid 
this,  the  copper  must  be  restored  to  its  natural  state.^'* 

"  What  would  happen,"  asks  another  of  my  pupils,  "  if  these 
little  holes  occurred  in  a  sky  or  in  some  other  closely  worked 
passage  .-*  Here  is  a  plate  in  which  this  accident  has  befallen 
some  clouds  and  part  of  the  ground.     What  shall  I  do  ?  " 

To  begin  with,  let  me  tell  you  for  your  future  guidance  that 
this  accident  would  not  have  happened  if  you  had  waited  for 
the  drying  of  the  ground  with  which  you  covered  this  sky  after 
you  had  bitten  it.  The  acid,  which  never  loses  an  opportunity 
given  it  by  mismanagement  or  inattention,  worked  its  way  unbe- 
known to  you  through  the  soft  varnish  in  the  clouds  as  well  as 
in  the  ground,  and  went  on  a  spree  at  your  expense.  Remember 
that  nitric  acid  is  very  selfish  ;  it  insists  that  it  shall  always  be 
uppermost  in  your  mind,  and  all  your  calculations  must  take  this 
demand  into  account  ;  its  powers,  creative  as  well  as  destructive, 
are  to  be  continually  dreaded  ;  it  likes  to  see  you  occupy  yourself 
with  it  continually,  watchfully,  and  with  fear.  If  you  turn  your 
back  to  it,  it  plays  you  a  trick,  and  thus  it  has  punished  you  for 
neglecting  it  for  a  moment. 

"  Thank  you.  But  you  are  acting  the  part  of  La  Fontaine's 
schoolmaster,  who  moralized  with  the  pupil  when  he  had  fallen 
into  the  water." 

63.  Planing  out  Faulty  Passages.  —  And  that  did  not  help 
him  out.  You  are  right.  Well,  you  must  go  to  some  skilful 
copper-planer.''''  who  will  work  away  at  the  spoiled  part  of  your 
plate  with  scraper  and  burnisher  and  charcoal,  until  he  has  restored 
the  copper  to  its  virgin  state  ;  then  all  you've  got  to  do  will  be  to 
do  your  work  over  again. 

"  That  is  rather  a  blunt  way  of  settling  the  question.  Seeing 
that  we  arc  about  to  cut  into  the  flesh  after  this  fashion,  might  it 


ACCIDENTS.  41 

not  be  as  well  to  have  the  whole  of  the  sky  taken  out  altogether  ? 
I  am  not  satisfied  with  it,  any  way." 

Certainly.  By  the  same  process  the  planer  can  remove  every 
thing,  up  to  the  outlines  of  the  trees  and  the  figures  in  your 
plate  ;  he  will  cut  out  any  thing  you  want,  and  yet  respect  all  the 
outlines,  if  you  will  only  indicate  your  wishes  on  a  proof.  In  this 
passage,  where  you  see  deep  holes,  scraper  and  charcoal  will  be 
insufficient  ;  the  planer  must,  therefore,  hammer  them  out  before 
he  goes  at  the  other  parts.  As  regards  the  Httle  holes  in  the 
foreground,  since  they  are  not  as  deep  as  the  lines  among  which 
they  appear,  you  can  remove  them,  or  at  least  reduce  them,  by 
means  of  charcoal,  without  injury  to  the  deeply  bitten  parts. 

You  may  follow  this  plan  whenever  you  are  convinced  that  a 
lowering  of  tone  will  do  no  harm  to  your  first  work.  In  the 
opposite  case,  you  must  either  have  recourse  to  the  planer,  or  put 
up  with  the  accident.  If  you  are  not  too  much  of  a  purist,  you 
will  occasionally  find  these  piqués  productive  of  a  piquant  effect, 
and  then  you  will  take  good  care  not  to  touch  them. 

"That's  a  'point'  which  you  did  not  mention  among  the 
utensils  !     You  have  ingenious  ways  of  getting  out  of  a  scrape." 

We  cut  out,  or  cut  down,  or  dig  away,  whole  passages,  accord- 
ing to  necessity.  I  have  seen  the  half  of  a  plate  planed  off, 
because  the  design  was  faulty. 

64.  Acid  Spots  on  Clothing.  —  Here  comes  one  of  my 
friends,  who  is  also  an  etcher.  I  wonder  what  he  brings  us  ! 
His  clothing  is  covered  all  over  with  spots  of  the  most  beautiful 
garnet  ;  he  ought  to  have  washed  them  with  volatile  alkali,  which 
neutralizes  the  effect  of  the  acid.     But  he  does  not  mind  it. 

65.  Reducing  Over-bitten  Passages  and  Crevés.  —  "Oh, 
gentlemen,  that  is  not  worth  while  speaking  of!  But  you  must 
see  my  plate.  I  drew  a  horse  from  nature,  which  a  whole  swamp- 
ful  of  leeches  might  have  disputed  with  me.  But  I  do  believe 
it  escaped  the  biting  of  these  animals  only  to  succumb  to  mine. 
Judge  for  yourselves  !  " 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  you  have  killed  it  with  acid. 
There  is  nothing  left  of  it,  but  an  informal  mass,  ten  times  over- 
bitten.  Fortunately  there  is  no  lack  of  black  ink  at  the  printer's  ! 
It  is  a  veritable  Chinese  shadow,  and   looks  as  if  the  horse  had 


42  A    TREATISE    OX    ETCHING. 

gone  into  mourning  for  itself.  However,  although  the  carcass  is 
lost,  I  hope  you  may  be  able  to  save  some  of  the  members.  The 
wounds  are  deep  and  broad  ;  but  we  can  try  a  remedy  in  extre^nis: 
first  of  all,  your  horse  will  have  to  stand  an  attack  of  charcoal  ; 
if  it  survives  this,  we  shall  subject  it  to  renewed  and  ferocious 
bitings.  All  this  puzzles  you.  Therefore,  having  treated  your 
beast  to  the  charcoal,  and  having  had  a  last  proof  taken,  you  place 
the  latter  before  you,  and  re-cover  your  plate  with  a  solid  coat  of 
varnish.  With  a  somewhat  coarse  point  you  patch  those  places 
which  show  white  in  the  proof,  taking  care  to  harmonize  your 
patches  with  the  surrounding  parts. 

In  this  way  you  replace  the  lines  which  have  disappeared,  and 
then  proceed  to  bite  in,  doing  your  best  to  come  as  near  as  pos- 
sible to  the  strength  of  the  first  biting.  The  result  may  not  be 
very  marvellous,  but  it  will  be  an  improvement,  at  all  events.  If 
I  were  in  your  place,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  begin  again.  The 
process  which  I  have  just  described  is  best  suited  to  isolated 
passages. 

In  closely  worked  and  lightly  bitten  passages,  blotches  (or 
crevés)  are  more  easily  remedied,  as  they  are  less  deep.  Rub  them 
down  with  charcoal,  very  cautiously  and  delicately,  and  let  the 
dry  point  do  the  rest. 

There,  now  !  There's  our  friend,  again,  using  acid  instead  of 
spirits  of  turpentine  to  clean  his  plate  !  That'll  be  the  end  of  the 
animal.  It  is  against  the  law,  sir,  to  murder  a  poor,  inoffensive 
beast  this  wise  !  Fortunately  we  can  help  him  out  with  several 
sheets  of  blotting-paper,  in  default  of  water,  which  we  do  not 
happen  to  have  at  hand.  We  were  in  time  !  The  copper  has 
only  lost  its  polish  ;  a  little  more  charcoal,  —  and  Rosinante  still 
lives. 


Vi 


FLAT    BITING,    AND    BITING    WITH    STOPPING-OUT.      43 


CHAPTER   VI. 

DIFFERENCE   BETWEEN    FLAT   BITING,   AND   BITING   WITH 
STOPPING-OUT. 

66.  Two  Kinds  of  Biting. —  Now  that  you  have  become  famil- 
iar with  the  secrets  of  biting,  I  say  to  my  pupil,  and  are  therefore 
prepared  to  be  on  your  guard  against  the  accidents  to  be  avoided 
when  you  go  to  work  again,  I  can  make  clear  to  you,  better  than 
if  I  had  endeavored  to  do  so  at  the  outset,  the  difference  between 
the  two  kinds  of  biting  on  which  rests  the  whole  system  of  the 
art  of  etching,  and  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  which  are  often 
confounded.  The  work  thus  far  done  will  help  you  to  a  more 
intelligent  understanding  of  this  distinction.  As  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  explain  to  you,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  all  the  resources 
of  the  needle  as  well  as  those  of  biting,  between  which,  as  I  told 
you  before,  there  exist  very  intimate  relations,  I  had  to  choose 
a  general  example  by  which  to  demonstrate  the  processes  em- 
ployed, and  which  would  allow  me  to  explain  the  reasons  for  these 
processes. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  biting,  — ^a^  biting  and  biting  with 
stopping-out.     I  See  PL  III.) 

These  two  kinds  of  biting  resemble  one  another  in  this,  that 
they  invêlve  only  one  grounding  or  varnishing,  and  consequently 
only  one  bath  ;  they  differ  most  markedly  in  this,  that  in  flat 
biting  the  work  of  the  acid  is  accomplished  all  over  the  plate  at 
one  and  the  same  time,  and  with  only  one  immersion  in  the  bath, 
while  in  biting  with  stopping-out  there  are  several  successive,  or, 
if  you  prefer  the  term,  partial  bitings,  between  each  of  which  the 
plate  is  withdrawn  from  the  bath,  and  the  parts  to  be  reserved 
are  stopped  out  with  varnish  as  often  as  it  is  thought  necessary. 

It  follows  from  this,  that,  with  flat  biting,  the  modelling  must 
be  done  by  the  needle,  using  either  only  one  needle,  or  else  sev- 
eral of  different  thicknesses. 


44  A   TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

f)^.  Flat  Biting.  —  One  Point. — With  a  single  needle  the  values 
are  obtained  by  drawing  the  lines  closely  together  in  the  fore- 
ground and  nearer  distances,  or  for  passages  requiring  strength, 
and  by  keeping  them  apart  in  the  off  distances,  and  in  the  lighter 
passages  of  the  near  distances  ;  furthermore,  to  obtain  a  play  of 
light  in  the  same  distance,  the  lines  must  be  drawn  farther  apart 
in  the  lights,  and  more  closely  together  in  the  shadows.  A  single 
point  gives  a  hint  of  what  we  desire  to  do,  but  it  does  not  express 
it.  It  is  undoubtedly  sufficient  for  a  sketch  intended  to  represent 
a  drawing  executed  with  pen  and  ink  or  with  the  pencil  ;  but  it 
cannot  be  successfully  employed  in  a  plate  which,  by  the  variety 
of  color  and  the  vigor  of  the  biting,  is  meant  to  convey  the  idea 
of  a  painting. 

68.  Flat  Biting.  —  Several  Points. — When  several  points  of 
different  thickness  are  used,  the  coarser  serve  for  the  foreground 
and  near  distances,  the  finer  in  gradual  succession  for  the  reced- 
ing distances.  They  are  used  alternately  in  the  different  dis- 
tances, and  the  lines  are  drawn  more  closely  together  here,  or 
kept  farther  apart  there,  according  to  the  necessities  of  the  effect 
to  be  obtained  ;  the  depth  of  the  biting  is  the  same  throughout, 
but  the  difference  in  thickness  of  the  lines  makes  it  an  easy 
matter,  by  more  elaborate  modelling,  to  give  to  the  etching  the 
appearance  of  a  finished  design. 

With  a  single  point,  as  well  as  with  several,  the  pressure  used 
in  drawing  must  remain  the  same  throughout,  so  that  the  acid 
may  act  simultaneously,  and  with  equal  intensity  on  all  parts 
of  the  plate.  If  there  has  been  any  inequality  of  attack,  the 
values  will  be  unequal  in  their  turn,  and  difterent  from  wjpat  they 
were  intended  to  be. 

69.  Biting  with  Stopping-out.  —  One  Point.  —  In  biting  with 
stopping-out,  it  is  the  biting  itself,  and  not  the  needle,  which 
gives  modelling  to  the  etching.  In  this  case,  also,  one  or  several 
points  may  be  used.  The  simplest  manner  is  that  in  which  only 
one  point  is  used.  The  stopping-out,  and  consequently  the  biting, 
is  done  in  large  masses.     (See  PI.  V.  Fig.  i.) 

70.  Biting  with  Stopping-out.  Several  Points.  —  As  a  very 
simple  example  let  us  take  a  case  in  which  it  is  necessary  to  have 
certnin  v.  rv  closely  lined  passages  in  a  foreground  alongside  of 


n  k 


FLAT   BITING,   AND    BITING   WITH    STOPPING-OUT.     45 

very  coarse  ones.  In  that  case  the  first,  or  close,  Unes  must  be 
etched  very  delicately,  while  the  whole  force  of  the  biting  must 
be  brought  to  bear  on  the  latter  (see  PI.  IV.  Fig.  2).  In  the  same 
way  the  values  of  two  different  objects  may  be  equilibrated  ;  by 
employing  close  lines  slightly  bitten  in  the  one  case,  and  spaced 
lines  more  deeply  bitten  in  the  other.  Biting  with  stopping-out, 
combined  with  the  work  of  several  points,' requires  more  attention 
and  discernment  than  any  other. 

If  the  first  biting  is  not  successful,  the  plate  is  revarnished, 
and  the  work  of  repairing  and  correcting  commences. 

Summing  up  the  advantages  offered  by  these  various  means, 
you  will  see  what  results  the  combination  of  the  work  of  one  or 
of  several  points  with  partial  biting  may  be  made  to  yield,  either 
in  giving  to  objects  their  various  values,  their  natural  color,  and 
their  modelling,  or  in  disposing  them  in  space,  and  thus  produc- 
ing the  harmonious  gradation  of  the  several  distances. 

71.  Necessity  of  Experimenting.  —  If  you  will  now  call  to 
mind  our  preceding  operations,  and  will  hold  them  together  with 
the  explanations  just  given,  you  will  be  able  to  appreciate  them  in 
their  totality.  The  necessity  of  arriving  at  truth  of  expression, 
with  nothing  to  guide  you  but  these  rules,  which  are  influenced 
by  a  variety  of  conditions,  will  compel  you  to  experiment  for  your- 
self, with  special  reference  to  the  combination  of  the  surrounding 
temperature^  the  sti^engtJi  of  the  acid,  the  number  of  partial  bitings, 
the  pressure  of  tJie  point,  the  different  thicknesses  of  the  points,  and 
the  various  kinds  of  zvork  that  caji  be  done  with  them,  on  the  one 
hand  ;  and  on  the  other,  with  regard  to  the  length  of  the  bitings. 
If  you  are  called  upon  to  imitate  a  given  object  very  closely,  you 
must  proceed  rationally,  and  your  work  must  be  accompanied  by 
continual  reflection.  To  familiarize  yourself  with  these  delicate 
operations,  you  must  experiment  for  yourself;  don't  complain  if 
you  spoil  a  few  plates  ;  you  will  learn  something  by  your  failures, 
as  your  experience  in  one  case  will  teach  you  what  to  do  in  others. 
Self-acquired  experience  is  of  all  teachers  the  best. 

72.  Various  other  Methods  of  Biting.  —  The  two  preceding 
methods,  which,  in  a  general  way,  comprehend  the  rules  of  biting, 
do  not  exclude  other  particular  methods  of  a  similar  nature. 
Thus,  it  may  be  well    sometimes  to  etch  at  first  only  the  sim- 


46  A    TREATISE    0.\    EiCHLXG. 

pie  outline,  biting  it  in  more  or  less  vigorously,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  case  (see  PI.  IV.  Fig.  3)  ;  and  then,  having 
revarnished  and  resmoked  the  plate,  to  elaborate  the  drawing  by 
going  over  it  either  in  some  parts  only  or  throughout  the  whole. 
Rembrandt  often  pursued  this  course  ;  and  we  may  follow  the 
several  stages  of  his  work  by  studying  the  various  states  of  his 
plates.  \Vc  see  that  he  took  great  pains  to  work  out  some  part 
of  his  subject  very  carefully,  without  touching  the  other  parts; 
he  then  took  a  proof,  and  afterwards  went  over  the  same  part 
with  finer  lines,  and  passed  on  to  the  other  parts,  treating  them 
according  to  the  eftcct  which  he  desired  to  reach. 

This  method  is  often  imitated  ;  it  is  employed  when  it  is  neces- 
sary to  lay  a  shadow  over  a  passage  full  of  detail,  as,  for  instance, 
in  architectural  subjects,  in  the  execution  of  which  it  is  easier, 
and  tends  to  avoid  confusion,  to  fix  the  lines  of  the  design  first, 
and  then,  having  laid  the  ground  a  second  time,  to  add  the 
shadows.     (See   PI.  IV.   Fig.  4  ) 

"  Pardon  me  !  But  might  not  this  result  be  obtained  by  the 
same  biting,  if  the  lines  of  the  design  were  drawn  with  a  coarse 
point,  and  the  shading  were  added  with  a  finer  one  .-*  " 

Certainly;  and  in  that  case  we  should  have  an  instance  of 
work  executed  with  several  needles,  such  as  I  pointed  out  to  you 
before. 

From  the  explanations  previously  given,  it  will  be  clear,  also, 
that,  the  nature  of  the  subject  permitting,  it  may  be  advantageous 
sometimes  to  execute  a  plate  by  drawing  and  biting  each  dis- 
tance by  itself.  Thus  you  may  commence  with  the  foreground, 
and  may  bite  it  in  ;  having  had  a  proof  taken,  revarnish  your 
plate,  and  proceed  in  the  same  fashion  to  the  execution  of  the 
other  distances,  and  of  the  sky,  always  having  a  proof  taken  after 
each  biting  to  serve  you  as  a  guide. 

This  mode  of  operation  —  essentially  that  of  the  engraver  — 
is  of  special  advantage  in  putting  in  a  sky  or  a  background 
behind  complicated  foliage.  You  can  draw  and  bite  your  sky  or 
your  background  all  by  itself  (see  PI.  IV.  Fig.  5),  and  then,  having 
revarnished  your  plate,  you  can  execute  your  trees  on  the  back- 
ground. As  the  trees  are  bitten  by  themselves,  it  is  evident 
that  we  have  avoided  a  difficulty  which  is  almost  insurmountable, 


FLAT    BITING,    AND    BITIXG    WITH    STOPPING-OUT.      47 

that,  namely,  of  stopping  out  with  the  brush  the  lines  of  the 

sky  between  intricate  masses  of  foliage.  But  we  can  also  proceed 
differently.  We  can  commence  with  the  trees,  drawing  them  and 
biting  them  in,  and  can  finish  with  the  sky,  having  rcvarnished 
the  plate  as  usual:  the  sky  will  thus  fall  into  its  place  behind  the 
trees.  You  need  not  trouble  yourself  because  the  lines  of  the  sky 
pass  across  the  lines  of  the  trees.  The  biting  of  the  sky  must 
be  so  delicate  that  it  will  not  aifect  the  value  of  the  foliage,  and 
you  may  therefore  carry  your  point  in  all  directions,  and  use  it  as 
freely  as  you  please. 

Some  etchers  find  it  more  convenient  to  commence  with  the 
sky  and  the  background,  on  account  of  the  points  of  resistance 
encountered  by  the  needle  in  the  more  deeply  bitten  lines  of  the 
trees,  which  destroys  their  freedom  of  execution.  They  are  cor- 
rect, whenever  the  sky  to  be  executed  is  very  complicated  ;  but  if 
only  a  few  lines  are  involved,  it  will  be  better  to  introduce  them 
afterwards.  It  is,  besides,  an  easy  matter  to  get  accustomed  to 
the  jumping  of  the  point  when  it  is  working  on  a  ground  that  has 
previously  been  bitten. 

What  I  have  just  told  you  applies  also  to  the  masts  and  the 
rigging  of  vessels,  &c.,  and,  indeed,  to  all  lines  which  cut  clearly 
and  strongly  across  a  delicately  bitten  distance. 

An  etcher  of  great  merit  has  conceived  the  original  idea  of 
executing  an  etching  in  the  bath  itself,  commencing  with  the 
passages  which  need  a  vigorous  biting,  then  successively  passing 
on  to  the  more  delicate  parts,  and  finally  ending  with  the  sky.* 
The  various  distances  thus  receive  their  due  proportion  of  biting; 
but  it  is  necessary  to  work  very  quickly,  as  the  biting  of  a  plate 
etched  in  the  bath  in  this  manner  proceeds  five  to  six  times  more 
rapidly  than  if  done  in  the  ordmary  manner.  Every  etcher  ought 
to  be  curious  to  try  this  bold  method  of  working,  so  that  he  may 
see  how  it  is  possible  to  ally  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  with 
the  uncertain  duration  of  the  biting,  which  in   this  process  has 

*  The  bath,  in  this  case,  is  composed  as  follows:  — 

880  gr.  water. 

100    "    pure  hydrochloric   (muriatic)   acid. 
20    "    potassium  chlorate 


48  A   TREATISE   ON    ETCHING. 

emancipated  itself  from  all  methodical  rule,  and  follows  no  law 
but  that  imposed  upon  it  by  the  caprice  of  the  artist.^^ 

All  this  goes  to  show  you  that  there  is  ample  liberty  of  choice 
as  to  processes  in  etching.  It  is  well  to  try  them  all,  as  it  is 
well  to  try  every  thing  that  may  give  new  and  unknown  results, 
may  inspire  ideas,  or  may  lead  to  progress,  neither  of  which  is 
likely  to  happen  in  the  pursuit  of  mere  routine  work. 


RECOMMENDATIONS   AND    AUXILIARY   PROCESSES.      49 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RECOMMENDATIONS  AND  AUXILIARY   PROCESSES. —  ZINK  AND 
STEEL   PLATES.  — VARIOUS  THEORIES. 

A.     Recommendations  and  Auxiliary  Processes. 

73.  The  Roulette. — The  latitude  which  I  gave  you  does  not 
extend  to  the  point  of  approving  of  all  material  resources  without 
any  exception.  There  is  one  which  I  shall  not  permit  you  to 
make  use  of,  as  the  needle  has  enough  resources  of  its  own  to  be 
able  to  do  without  it.  I  allude  to  the  roulette,  which  finds  its 
natural  application  in  other  species  of  engraving. 

74.  The  Flat  Point.  —  Employ  the  flat  point  with  judgment  ; 
it  takes  up  a  great  deal  of  varnish,  but  gives  lines  of  little  depth, 
and  of  less  strength  than  those  which  can  be  obtained  by  pro- 
longed biting,  with  an  ordinary  needle. 

75.  The  Graver  or  Burin.  —  "And  the  graver  :  what  do  you 
say  to  that  .-*  " 

The  graver  is  the  customary  and  fundamental  tool  of  what  is 
properly  called  "  line-engraving."  Although  it  is  not  absolutely 
necessary  in  the  species  of  etching  which  we  are  studying,  there 
are  cases,  nevertheless,  in  which  it  can  be  used  to  advantage,  but 
always  as  an  auxiliary  only. 

If,  for  instance,  you  desire  to  give  force  to  a  deeply  bitten  but 
grayish  and  dull  passage,  or  to  a  flat  tint  which  looks  monotonous, 
a  few  resolute  and  irregular  touches  with  the  graver  will  do  won- 
ders, and  will  add  warmth  and  color.  A  few  isolated  lines  with 
the  graver  give  freshness  to  a  muddy,  broken,  or  foxy  tint,  with- 
out increasing  its  value. 

The  graver  may  also  be  employed  in  patching  deeply  bitten 
passages. 

The  graver,  of  a  rectangular  form,  with  an  angular  cutting  edge, 
is  applied  almost  horizontally  on  the  bare  copper  ;    its   handle,. 

4 


50  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

rounded  above,  flat  below,  is  held  in  the  palm  of  the  hand  ;  the 
index  finger  presses  on  the  steel  bar  ;  it  is  pushed  forward,  and 
easily  enters  the  metal  :  the  degree  of  pressure  applied,  and  the 
angle  which  it  makes  with  the  plate,  produces  the  difterence  in 
the  engraved  lines.  The  color  obtained  by  the  burin  is  deeper 
than  that  obtained  by  biting,  as  it  cuts  more  deeply  into  the 
copper.  If  extensively  used  in  an  etching,  the  work  executed  by 
the  graver  contrasts  rather  unpleasantly  with  the  quality  of  the 
etched  work,  as  its  lines  are  extremely  clear  cut.  To  get  rid  of 
this  inequality,  it  is  sufficient  to  rebite  the  passages  in  question 
very  slightly,  which  gives  to  the  burin-lines  the  appearance  of 
etched  lines. 

In  short:  use  the  graver  with  great  circumspection,  as  its 
application  to  works  of  the  needle  is  a  very  delicate  matter,  and 
gives  to  an  etching  a  character  different  from  that  which  we  are 
striving  for.  It  seems  to  me  that  to  employ  it  on  a  free  etching, 
done  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  would  be  like  throwing  a  phrase 
from  Bossuet  into  the  midst  of  a  lively  conversation.^' 

^6.  Sandpaper.  —  As  regards  other  mechanical  means,  be  dis- 
trustful of  tints  obtained  by  rubbing  the  copper  with  sandpaper  ; 
these  tints  generally  show  in  the  proof  as  muddy  spots,  and  are 
wanting  in  freshness.  Avoid  the  process,  because  of  its  difficulty 
of  application.  Only  a  very  skilful  engraver  can  put  it  to  good 
uses. 

JJ.  Sulphur  Tints.  —  I  shall  be  less  afraid  to  see  you  make  use 
o'i  flowers  of  sulphur  for  the  purpose  of  harmonizing  or  increasing 
the  weight  of  a  tint.  The  sulphur  is  mixed  with  oil,  so  as  to  form 
a  homogeneous  paste  thick  enough  to  be  laid  on  with  a  brush. 

By  the  action  of  these  two  substances  the  polish  on  the  plate  is 
destroyed,  and  the  result  in  printing  is  a  fresh  and  soft  tint,  which 
blends  agreeably  with  the  work  of  the  needle. 

Differences  in  value  are  easily  obtained  by  allowing  the  sulphur 
to  remain  on  the  plate  for  a  greater  or  less  period  of  time.  This 
species  of  biting  acts  more  readily  in  hot  weather  ;  a  few  minutes 
are  sufficient  to  produce  a  firm  tint.  In  cokl  weather  relatively 
more  time  is  needed.  The  corrosions  produced  in  this  wn^'  have 
quite  a  dark  appearance  on  the  plate,  but  they  produce  muc!-. 
lighter  tints  in  printing.     If  you  are  not  satisfied  with  the  result 


RECOMMENDATIONS    AND    AUXILIARY    PROCESSES.      5 1 

obtained,  you  can  rub  it  out  with  charcoal,  as  the  copper  is  cor- 
roded only  quite  superficially. 

Owing  to  this  extreme  slightness  of  biting,  the  burnisher  may 
"also  be  used  to  reduce  any  parts  which  are  to  stand  out  white. 

This  process,  as  you  see,  is  very  accommodating  ;  but  it  is  too 
much  like  mezzotint  or  aquatint,  and,  furthermore,  it  can  only 
be  applied  in  flat  tints,  without  modelling.  I  have,  nevertheless, 
explained  it  to  you,  so  that  you  may  be  able  to  use  it,  if  you 
should  have  a  notion  to  do  so,  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  but  with 
reserve.  It  is  better  to  use  the  dry  point,  which  has  more  affinity 
to  the  processes  natural  to  etching. 

78.  Mottled  Tints.  —  You  may  also  make  use  of  the  following 
process  (but  with  the  same  restrictions)  in  the  representation  of 
parts  of  old  walls,  of  rocks  and  earth,  or  of  passages  to  which  you 
desire  to  impart  the  character  of  a  sort  of  artistic  disorder; — Dis- 
tribute a  quantity  of  ordinary  etching-ground  on  a  copper  plate 
sufficiently  heated  ;  then  take  your  dabber,  and,  having  charged  it 
unequally  with  varnish,  and  having  also  heated  your  etched  plate, 
press  the  dabber  on  the  passages  which  are  to  receive  the  tint  ; 
the  varnish  adheres  to  the  plate  in  an  irregular  manner,  leaving 
the  copper  bare  here  and  there.  Now  stop  out  with  the  brush 
those  parts  which  you  desire  to  protect,  and  bite  in  with  pure 
acid  ;  the  result  will  be  a  curiously  mottled  irregular  tint  (see 
PI.  V.  Fig.  2).  Properly  used  in  the  representation  of  subjects 
on  which  you  are  at  liberty  to  exercise  your  fancy,  this  process 
will  give  you  unexpected  and  often  happy  results. 

79.  Stopping-out  before  all  Biting.  —  Before  we  proceed,  I 
must  show  you  an  easy  method  of  representing  a  thunder-storm 
(see  PI.  V.  Fig.  2)  :  —  Work  the  sky  with  the  needle,  very  closely, 
so  as  to  get  the  sombre  tints  of  the  clouds  ;  and,  before  biting, 
trace  the  streaks  of  lightning  on  the  etched  work  with  a  brush 
and  stopping-out  varnish  ;  being  thus  protected  against  the  acid, 
these  streaks  will  show  white  in  the  printing,  and  the  effect  will 
be  neater  and  more  natural  than  if  you  had  attempted  to  obtain 
it  by  the  needle  itself,  as  you  will  avoid  the  somewhat  hard  out- 
lines on  either  side  of  the  lightning,  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  necessary  to  indicate  it. 

You  can  employ  the  same  process  for  effects  of  moonlight,  for 


52  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

reflected  lights  on  water,  and,  in  fact,  for  all  light  lines  which  it  is 
difficult  to  pick  out  on  a  dark  ground. 

B.     ZiNK  Plates  and  Steel  Plates. 

80.  Zink  Plates.  —  So  far  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  copper 
plates  only  ;  but  etchings  are  also  executed  on  zink  and  on  steel. 
Zink  bites  rapidly,  and  needs  only  one  quarter  of  the  time  neces- 
sary for  copper,  with  the  same  strength  of  acid  ;  or,  with  the  same 
length  of  time,  an  acid  of  ten  degrees  is  sufficient.  The  biting 
is  coarse,  and  without  either  delicacy  or  depth.  A  zink  plate 
prints  only  a  small  edition.^^ 

81.  Steel  Plates.  —  Steel  also  bites  with  great  rapidity.  One 
part  of  acid  to  seven  of  water  is  sufficient  ;  and  the  biting  is 
accomplished,  on  the  average,  in  from  one  to  five  minutes,  from 
the  faintest  distance  to  the  strongest  foreground. 

Free,  artistic  etchings  are  very  rarely  executed  on  steel,  which 
is  more  particularly  used  in  other  kinds  of  engraving. 

C.     Various  other  Processes. 

82.  Soft  Ground  Etching.  —  There  is  a  kind  of  etching  known 
as  soft-ground  etching,  and  but  little  practised  at  present,  which 
was  successfully  cultivated  about  thirty  years  ago  by  Louis  Marvy 
and  Masson.  The  engravers  of  the  last  century  used  to  call  it 
gravîire  en  manière  de  crayon}^ 

Take  a  ball  of  common  etching-ground,  and  melt  it  in  the 
water-bath  in  a  small  vessel,  adding  to  it,  in  winter,  an  equal  vol- 
ume, and  in  summer  only  one-third  of  the  same  volume,  of  tallow. 
Let  the  mixture  cool,  form  it  into  a  ball,  and  wrap  it  uj)  in  a  piece 
of  very  fine  silk.  Ground  your  plate  in  the  usual  way,  and  smoke 
lightly.  On  this  soft  ground  fix  a  piece  of  very  thin  paper  having 
a  grain,  and  on  the  paper  thus  attached  to  the  plate,  execute  your 
design  with  a  lead-pencil.  Wherever  the  pencil  passes,  the  var- 
nish sticks  to  the  paper  in  proportion  to  the  pressure  of  the  hand  ; 
and,  on  carefully  removing  the  sheet,  it  takes  up  the  varnish  that 
adheres  to  it.  Bite  the  plate,  and  the  result  will  be  a  facsimile  of 
the  design  executed  on  the  paper.     (See  PI.  VL) 

If  the  proofs  are  too  soft,  or  wanting  in  decision,  the  plate  may 


/Y-é. 


:'^f>f-,^i?5i^'?5^^  ^"K^^ 


PL  7 


jC£^ 


VARTOUS    OTHER   PROCESSES.  53 

be  worked  over  with  the  needle,  by  regrounding,  and  then  rebit- 
ino"  it.  The  first  state  can  thus  be  elaborated  like  an  ordinary 
etching,  and  the  necessary  precision  can  be  given  to  it  whenever 
the  idea  to  be  expressed  is  vaguely  or  insufficiently  rendered  ;  or 
the  same  end  may  be  reached  by  the  dry  point.  In  either  case, 
however,  all  the  retouches  must  be  executed  by  irregular  stippling, 
so  that  they  may  harmonize  with  the  result  of  the  first  biting. 
Otherwise  there  will  be  a  lack  of  homogeneity  in  the  appearance 
of  etchings  of  this  sort,  in  which  the  grain  of  the  paper  plays  an 
important  part.  Smooth  paper  gives  no  result  whatever.  The 
paper  used  may  have  a  coarse  grain  or  a  fine  grain,  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  etcher,  or  papers  of  different  grain  may  be  used  in  the 
same  design.  This  style  of  etching  requires  great  care  in  han- 
dUng  the  plate,  on  account  of  the  tenderness  of  the  ground.  In 
drawing,  a  hand-rest  must  be  used,  so  that  the  hand  may  not 
touch  the  plate. 

%l.  Dry  Point  Etching.  —  The  dry  point  is  also  used  for  etch- 
ing, without  the  intervention  of  the  acid-bath.  The  design  is 
executed  with  the  dry  point  on  the  bare  copper  ;  the  difference  in 
values  is  obtained  by  the  greater  or  less  amount  of  pressure  used, 
and  by  the  difference  in  the  distance  between  the  lines.  (See 
Plate  VII.)  The  brilliancy  of  effect  which  etchings  of  this  kind 
may  or  may  not  possess,  depends  on  the  use  made  of  the  scraper 
(see  paragraph  49,  p.  33). 

You  will  find  it  convenient  to  varnish  and  smoke  your  plate,  to 
begin  with,  and  to  trace  the  leading  lines  of  your  design  on  the 
ground,  taking  care  to  cut  lightly  into  the  copper  with  the  point. 
Then  remove  the  varnish,  and  continue  your  drawing,  guided  by 
these  general  outlines. 

It  is  best  to  commence  with  the  sky,  or  other  delicate  passages, 
and  to  remove  the  bur  from  them,  if  there  are  other  stronger 
lines  to  be  drawn  over  them. 

You  can  see  perfectly  well  what  you  are  doing,  by  rubbing  a 
little  lamp-black  mixed  with  tallow  into  the  lines  as  you  proceed, 
and  cleaning  the  plate  with  the  flat  of  your  hand  ;  in  this  way 
you  can  control  your  work,  and  can  carry  it  forward  until  it  is 
finished,  either  by  removing  more  or  less  of  the  bur,  or  by  allow- 
ing all  of  it  to  stand,  or  by  the  elaboration  of  those  passages  which 


54  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

seem  to  need  it.  The  lines  show  on  the  plate  as  they  are  intended 
to  show  on  the  paper.  You  can  therefore  bring  out  your  subject 
by  shading  ;  you  can  lay  vigorous  lines  over  lines  from  which  the 
bur  has  been  removed  ;  you  can  take  out,  and  you  can  put  in. 
The  effect  produced  in  the  printing  is  velvety  and  strong,  similar 
to  that  produced  by  the  stump  on  paper.  Rembrandt  employed 
the  dry  point,  without  scraping,  in  some  of  his  principal  etchings. 

84.  The  Pen  Process. —  I  must  now  speak  to  you  of  a  process 
which  offers  certain  advantages.  Clean  your  plate  thoroughly, 
first  with  turpentine,  and  then  with  whiting,  and  take  care  not  to 
touch  the  polished  surface  with  your  fingers.  Execute  a  design 
on  the  bare  copper  with  the  pen  and  ordinary  ink.  You  must 
not,  of  course,  expect  to  find  in  the  pen  the  same  delicacy  as  in 
the  needle. 

The  design  having  been  finished  and  thoroughly  dried,  ground 
and  smoke  your  plate  without,  for  the  present,  taking  any  further 
notice  of  the  design  ;  but  be  sure  to  see  to  it  that  the  coat  of 
varnish  is  not  too  thick  ;  then  lay  the  plate  into  water,  and  let  it 
stay  there  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Having  withdrawn  the  plate, 
rub  it  lightly  with  a  piece  of  flannel  ;  the  ink,  having  been  soft- 
ened by  the  water,  comes  off,  together  with  the  varnish  which 
covers  it,  and  leaves  the  design  in  well-defined  lines  on  the  cop- 
per, which  you  may  now  bite. 

You  may  work  either  with  one  pen  and  several  bitings,  or  with 
several  pens  of  various  degrees  of  fineness  and  one  biting. 

As  in  the  case  of  soft  ground  etching,  you  may  make  additions 
with  the  needle  to  give  delicacy. 

It  is  necessary  to  ground  the  plate  and  to  soak  it  in  water  as 
soon  as  may  be  after  the  finishing  of  the  design.  At  the  end  of 
two  days,  the  ink  refuses  to  rub  off. 


PROVING   AND    PRINTING.  55 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

PROVING   AND    PRINTING. 

85.  Wax  Proofs.  —  Our  first  desire,  after  the  ground  has  been 
removed  from  the  plate,  is  to  see  a  proof.  If  you  have  no  press, 
and  yet  desire  to  take  proofs  of  your  work  after  each  biting,  you 
may  employ  the  following  process  to  good  advantage  :  — 

Take  a  sheet  of  very  thin  paper,  a  little  larger  than  your  plate, 
and  cover  it  with  a  thin  layer  of  melted  wax.  The  latter  must 
be  real  white  wax.  Then  sprinkle  a  little  lamp-black  on  your 
engraved  plate,  and  distribute  it  with  your  finger,  so  as  to  rub  it 
into  the  lines  ;  clean  the  surface  of  the  plate  by  carefully  passing 
the  palm  of  your  hand  over  it.  Now  lay  the  sheet  of  paper  on 
the  plate,  with  its  waxed  surface  down,  and  be  sure  to  turn  the 
edges  of  the  paper  over  on  the  back  of  the  plate,  so  as  to  prevent 
its  moving  ;  then  rub  with  the  burnisher  in  all  directions.  The 
lamp-black  sticks  to  the  wax,  and  is  sure  to  give  an  approximate 
image,  sufficient  to  guide  you  in  the  further  prosecution  of  your 
work,  if  that  should  be  necessary ,2*^ 

86.  The  Printing-Press.  —  These  proofs,  however,  as  well  as 
those  which  were  hurriedly  printed  for  you  so  far,  give  only  a 
mere  idea  of  your  work,  without  conveying  its  full  meaning.  If 
you  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  all  the  resources  of  the 
printing-press,  you  will  have  to  go  to  a  plate  printer.  It  is  well 
worth  your  while  to  acquire  this  knowledge,  also,  after  you  have 
familiarized  yourself  with  the  various  processes  at  the  command  of 
the  etcher. 

Here,  then,  is  the  printer  at  his  press  :  at  his  side  there  is  a 
box  made  of  sheet-iron,  enclosing  a  chafing-dish  ;  there  are  also 
printing-ink,  a  ball  for  inking,  rags,  and  paper.^'  He  is  about  to 
explain  the  use  made  of  these  things  to  our  young  student,  who 
delivers  his  plate  to  him,  and  is  anxious  to  be  instructed  in  all 
that  relates  to  the  taking  of  impressions. 


$6  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHIXG. 

Zy.  Natural  Printing.  —  The  printer  now  begins  his  explana- 
tions as  follows  :  — 

I  place  the  plate  on  the  sheet-iron  box  (the  plate-warmer)  ;  it 
there  acquires  the  necessary  degree  of  heat,  and  I  then  spread 
the  printing  ink  over  it  by  means  of  this  ball  ;  the  ink  penetrates 
into  the  lines,  and  completely  covers  the  whole  surface  of  the 
plate  ;  I  remove  the  excess  of  ink  with  a  coarse  muslin  rag, 
precisely  as  this  is  done  in  all  other  kinds  of  plate  printing  ;  I 
now  clean  the  plate  with  the  palm  of  my  hand,  so  that  no  ink  is 
left  on  it  anywhere  but  in  the  lines  ;  I  finally  wipe  the  margins 
of  the  plate  evenly,  so  as  to  leave  a  delicate  tint  on  the  etched 
part  only,  and  then  I  put  the  plate  into  the  press.  The  plate 
is  laid  on  the  travelling  board  or  bed  of-the  press,  which  runs 
between  two  cylinders  of  iron  or  hard  wood  ;  on  the  plate  I  lay 
a  piece  of  paper,  slightly  moistened,  and  I  cover  the  whole  with 
several  thicknesses  of  flannel  ;  I  turn  the  wheel  of  the  press,  and 
the  cylinders,  turning  on  themselves,  carry  along  the  travelling- 
board,  which,  in  passing  between  them,  is  subjected  to  great 
pressure.  The  paper  is  thus  pressed  into  the  lines  on  the  plate, 
and  this  process  is  facilitated  by  the  elasticity  of  the  flannel.  You 
see  now  that  your  plate  has  come  out  on  the  other  side  of  the 
rollers  (or  cylinders)  :  we  have  given  the  press  only  one  turn, 
although,  as  a  rule,  the  plate  is  passed  through  the  press  twice, 
by  making  it  travel  back  again  under  the  rollers.  This  imparts 
strength  to  the  impression  ;  but  occasionally  the  lines  are  not 
rendered  as  delicately  and  with  as  much  precision,  as  with  only 
one  turn.  I  remove  the  flannel,  and  very  carefully  lift  the  paper  ; 
it  has  absorbed  the  ink  :  we  have  before  us  a  natural  proof,  which 
shows  the  exact  state  of  the  plate  (see  PI.  I.).  Line-engravings 
are  printed  in  the  same  manner  ;  with  this  difi'erence,  however, 
that  the  tint,  more  or  less  apparent,  which  is  preserved  on  an 
etching,  is  not  allowed  to  remain  on  a  plate  engraved  with  the 
burin. 

88.  Artificial  Printing.  —  The  printing  of  etchings  very  fre- 
quently differs  from  the  simple  method  just  described.  It  must 
be  varied  according  to  the  style  of  execution  adopted  by  the 
etcher  ;  and,  as  much  of  the  harmony  of  the  plate  may  depend 
upon  it,  it  sometimes  rises  to  the  dignity  of  an  art,  in  which  the 


PROVING    AND    PRINTING.  57 

artist  and  the  printer  are  merged  into  each  other,  —  the  printer 
losing  himself  in  the  artist,  as  he  is  compelled  to  enter  into  the 
latter's  ideas  ;  and  the  artist  giving  way  to  the  printer,  to  avail 
himself  of  his  practical  experience.  The  proof  from  your  plate, 
for  instance,  has  a  dry  look  (see  PI.  I.)  ;  it  needs  more  softness, 
and  this  can  be  given  to  it  by  the  printer.*     {See  PI.  II.) 

I  will  now  explain  to  you  some  of  the  various  arlifices  which 
are  employed  in  printing. 

89.  Handwiping  with  Retroussage.  —  ¥{:iymg  zui/cd  the  plate 
zvitJi  the  palm  of  tJie  hand,  we  might  bring  it  up  again  {la  retrous- 
ser) by  playing  over  it  very  lightly  with  a  piece  of  soft  muslin  rag 
rolled  together.  The  muslin  draws  the  ink  out  of  the  lines,  and 
spreads  it  along  their  edges,  so  that,  in  the  proof,  the  space 
between  the  lines  is  filled  up  by  a  vigorous  tint.  But  this  process 
can  only  be  used  on  plates  in  which  the  lines  are  evenly  disposed 
throughout,  and,  more  especially,  scattered.  To  produce  the 
proper  effect  the  retroussage  must  be  general  ;  because,  if  the  rag 
passes  over  one  passage  only,  and  not  over  the  others,  or,  if  it  is 
brought  into  play  only  on  the  dark  parts,  and  not  in  the  lights, 
there  will  be  discordance  of  tone,  and  consequently  want  of 
harmony.  In  the  present  case,  therefore,  retroussage  would  be 
unsatisfactory,  because  the  work  on  your  plate,  while  it  is  broadly 
treated  in  some  parts,  is  so  close  in  others  that  there  is  no  room 
left  between  the  furrows.  It  follows  that  there  is  no  place  for  the 
ink,  drawn  out  of  the  lines,  to  spread  on  ;  the  result  would  be  a 
muddy  tint,  —  one  of  those  overcharged  impressions  which  bring 
criticism  upon  the  printer,  because  he  has  applied  retro7issage  to  a 
plate  which  did  not  need  it. 

90.  Tinting  with  a  Stiff  Rag.  —  Let  us  now  try  another 
means.  The  proof  will  gain  in  freshness  if  we  soften  the  lines  by 
going  over  the  plate,  after  it  has  been  tviped  zvith  the  hand,  some- 
what more  heavily  with  stijf  muslin.  Owing  to  the  pressure  used, 
the  rag,  instead  of  carrying  away  the  ink  which  it  has  taken  up 

*  It  would  be  a  great  advantage  if  every  etcher  could  print  his  own  proofs. 
Rembrandt  is  the  most  striking  example,  as  he  was  the  author  of  many  of  the 
devices  in  use  even  to-day.  A  press  can  easily  be  procured.  The  firm  of  Ve. 
Cadart,  Paris,  has  had  a  little  portable  press  constructed,  especially  for  the  use 
of  artists  and  amateurs.  All  the  necessary  accessories  for  printing  can  also  be 
obtained  of  this  firm.     (See  Note  22.) 


i^AM^MMHtaaldHMÉiM^ia^AH^MèÉBi 


58  A    TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

out  of  the  lines,  retains  it  ;  a  tint  like  that  produced  by  the  stump 
is  spread  over  the  plate,  and  envelops  the  lines  without  obscur- 
ing them  ;  the  proof  is  supple  and  velvety.     (See  PI.  II.) 

91.  Wiping  with  the  Rag  only.  —  Here  is  another  variety. 
I  am  just  printing  a  number  of  original  plates  by  different  artists. 
Being  true  painter's  etchings,  some  of  these  plates  are  boldly 
accentuated  and  heavily  bitten  ;  the  lines  are  widely  apart,  and 
significant.  If  these  plates  were  printed  naturally,  they  would 
yield  bare  and  poor-looking  proofs.  Wiping  with  the  hand  would 
be  useless.  I  therefore  go  over  the  plate  with  stiff  muslin.  In 
the  same  manner  I  continue  and  finish,  so  as  to  give  the  greatest 
amount  of  cleaning  to  the  luminous  passages,  while  a  tolerably 
strong  tint  is  left  on  the  dark  and  deeply  bitten  ones. 

Or  I  might  have  wiped  the  plate  energetically  with  soft  muslin, 
and  then  might  have  brought  up  again  certain  passages  with  a 
soft  and  somewhat  cleaner  rag. 

This  method  of  wiping,  which  leaves  on  the  surface  of  the  plate 
a  tint  of  more  or  less  depth,  must  not  be  confounded  with  retivus- 
sagc.  Here  is  a  proof  of  one  of  the  plates  of  wliich  I  spoke  to 
you  :  it  is  well  sustained  at  all  points  ;  the  lines  are  full  and  nour- 
ished; the  general  aspect  is  harmonious  and  energetic;  the  lights 
are  softened  ;  the  strongly  marked  passages  are  enveloped  in  a 
warm  tint.  One  might  almost  say  that  the  effect  of  painting  has 
been  carried  into  etching. 

This  method  is  employed  for  jilates  which  have  been  deeply 
bitten,  but  upon  which  stopping-out  has  been  used  but  sparingh-, 
for  works  in  which  there  is  sobriety  of  expression,  or  for  sketches 
(see  PI.  VIII.).  It  is  all  the  more  necessary,  sometimes,  for  the 
printer  to  take  the  initiative,  the  simpler  the  plate  has  been 
etched  ;  it  is  left  to  him,  in  short,  to  complete  the  intention 
merely  indicated  by  the  artist. 

92.  Limits  of  Artificial  Printing.  —  These  examples  have 
shown  to  you  that  difference  in  tone  depends  on  the  amount  of 
pressure,  and  the  variety  of  texture  in  the  muslin.  It  is  often- 
times necessary  —  and  this  is  an  affair  of  tact  —  to  make  use  of 
these  diverse  qualities  of  the  musHn  on  the  same  plate,  —  now 
reducing  an  over-strong  tint  by  more  vigorous  wiping  ;  now  giv- 
ing renewed  force  to  it,  in  case  it  has  become  too  soft. 


PROVING    AND    PRINTLNG.  59 

These  various  means  constitute  the  art  of  printing  etchings. 
But,  while  fully  recognizing  their  efficiency  when  they  are  used  to 
the  purpose,  we  must  also  keep  in  mind  the  dangers  which  arise 
from  their  being  applied  without  discernment.  Plates  produced 
by  an  intelligent  combination  of  bitings,  must  be  printed  natu- 
rally, if  they  are  not  to  lose  the  absolute  character  given  to  them 
by  the  needle  and  the  acid.  If  they  are  at  all  wiped  with  the  rag, 
so  as  to  impart  more  softness  to  them,  it  must,  at  least,  be  done 
with  the  greatest  of  care. 

The  artist  has  every  thing  to  gain,  therefore,  by  watching  over 
the  printing  of  his  plates,  and  instructing  the  printer  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  desires  to  be  interpreted.  Some  etchers 
prefer  the  simplicity  of  the  natural  state  ;  but  the  great  majority 
favor  the  other  method  of  printing,  which,  for  the  very  reason 
that  it  is  difficult,  and  on  account  of  the  many  variations  in  its 
application,  ought  always  to  be  an  object  of  interest  to  the 
printer,  and  the  aim  of  his  studies.  It  is,  moreover,  the  method 
which  is  generally  understood  and  adopted  by  our  first  etchers.-^ 

93.  Printing  Inks.  —  The  quality  and  the  shade  of  the  ink,  as 
well  as  the  way  in  which  it  is  ground,  are  of  great  importance  in 
the  beauty  of  a  proof.  Inks  are  made  of  pure  black,  slightly  tem- 
pered with  bistre  or  burnt  sienna,  and  the  shade  can  be  varied 
according  to  taste.  A  plate  like  yours  needs  a  delicate  black, 
composed  of  Frankfort  black  and  lamp-black  ;  the  bistre-tint, 
which,  in  the  course  of  time,  loses  its  freshness  and  strength, 
would  not  answer.  This  tint  is  always  best  suited  to  strongly 
bitten  work,  but  in  your  case  it  would  be  insufficient.  A  very 
strong  black,  on  the  other  hand,  would  make  your  etching  look 
hard.  This  last  shade  —  pure,  or  very  slightly  broken  with  bistre 
—  is  preferable  for  strongly  accented  plates. ^^ 

94.  Paper.  —  Laid  paper  \s>  the  most  suitable  paper  for  printing 
etchings  ;  its  sparkle  produces  a  marvellous  effect  ;  its  strength 
defies  time  itself 

Some  artists  and  amateurs  ransack  the  shops  for  old  paper 
with  brown  and  dingy  edges,  which,  to  certain  plates,  imparts  the 
appearance  of  old  etchings. 

India  paper  {Chinese  paper)  promotes  purity  of  line  ;  but,  as  its 
surface  is  dull,  it  furnishes  somewhat  dry  and  dim  proofs. 


6o  A   TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 

yapanese paper,  oi  d.  warm  yellowish  tint,  silky  and  transparent, 
is  excellent,  especially  for  plates  which  need  more  of  mystery  than 
of  brilliancy,  for  heavy  and  deep  tones,  and  for  concentration  of 
effect.  Japanese  paper  absorbs  the  ink,  and  it  is  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  bring  up  {retrousser)  the  plate  strongly,  and  to  wipe  it  with 
the  rag.  This  paper  is  less  favorable  to  sketches,  the  precise, 
free,  and  widely  spaced  lines  of  which  accommodate  themselves 
better  to  the  tint  of  the  laid  paper. 

Parchment  may  also  be  used  for  proofs  ;  nothing  equals  the 
beauty  of  such  proofs,  printed  either  naturally,  or  wiped  with  the 
rag  ;   they  are  the  treasures  of  collectors.-'* 

95.  Épreuves  Volantes.  —  On  Chinese  and  Japanese  paper, 
as  well  as  on  parchment,  so-called  épreuves  volantes  (flying  proofs) 
are  printed  ;  that  is  to  say,  loose  proofs,  which  are  not  pasted 
down  on  white  paper.  They  are  simply  attached  to  Bristol  board 
by  the  two  upper  corners,  which  brings  them  out  perfectly. 

96.  Proofs  before  Lettering.  —  All  of  these  various  kinds 
of  paper,  each  of  which  has  its  own  claim  for  excellence,  and 
especially  Japanese  paper,  are  by  preference  used  for  artists' 
proofs  and  proofs  before  lettering,  which  are  printed  before  the 
title  is  engraved  on  the  plate.  It  is  customary  to  print  a  greater 
or  less  number  of  such  proofs,  which,  being  struck  off  when  the 
plate  is  still  quite  fresh,  show  it  at  its  best.  After  that,  the  plate 
is  lettered,  and  an  ordinary  edition  is  printed  from  it. 

It  follows  from  this  that  the  possessor  of  a  proof  without  title 
has  the  best  the  plate  can  afford  to  give.  But,  as  the  pictures  by 
the  masters  do  not  stand  in  need  of  a  signature  to  be  recognized, 
so  the  proofs  before  lettering  may  well  do  without  the  guaranty 
which  is  found  in  the  absence  of  a  title  ;  even  without  this  guar- 
anty an  amateur  knows  how  to  recognize  the  virgin  freshness  of 
an  early  impression,  which  is  still  further  augmented  by  the  ex- 
treme care  bestowed  on  the  printing  of  these  exceptional  proofs, 
but  which  cannot  be  kept  up  through  a  long  edition. 

97.  Épreuves  de  Remarque.  —  Épreuves  de  remarque  (marked 
proofs),  showing  the  different  states  of  the  plate,  and  the  various 
modifications  which  it  underwent,  are  also  sought  after.  Their 
rarity  increases  their  price.-'' 

98.  Number  of   Impressions  which  a   Plate   is  capable    of 


PROVING    AND    PRINTING.  6l 

yielding.  —  The  number  of  impressions  which  a  plate  can  yield 
is  not  fixed,  as  the  power  of  resisting  the  wear  and  tear  of  printing 
depends  largely  on  the  delicacy  or  the  strength  of  the  work.  The 
quality  of  the  copper  must  also  be  considered,  a  soft  plate  giving 
way  much  faster  than  a  hard  plate  which  has  been  well  ham- 
mered. The  plates  prepared  to-day  do  not  resist  as  well  as  those 
formerly  made  ;  and  as  the  popularity  of  works  of  art  multiplied 
by  the  press  has  considerably  increased,  it  became  necessary  to 
look  about  for  means  by  which  the  surface  of  a  copper  plate  may 
be  hardened,  and  be  made  to  yield  a  large  edition.  This  has  been 
accomplished  by 

99.  Steel-facing.  —  Steel-facing,  which  was  invented  by  Messrs. 
Salmon  and  Gamier,  and  which  M.  Jacquin  undertook  to  render 
practicable,  consists  in  depositing  a  coating  of  veritable  steel,  by 
galvanic  action,  on  the  face  of  the  copper  plate,  or,  in  other  words, 
by  the  superposition  of  a  hard  metal  on  a  soft  metal. 

This  mode  of  protection,  which  perfectly  preserves  the  most 
delicate  passages,  even  down  to  the  almost  invisible  scratches  of 
the  dry  point,  not  only  guarantees  the  copper  against  the  contact 
of  the  hand  and  the  rag,  which  would  tell  on  it  more  than  the 
pressure  of  the  rollers,  but  at  the  same  time  makes  it  possible  to 
print  a  thousand  proofs  of  equal  purity.  Certain  plates,  owing 
to  the  manner  of  wiping  used  on  them,  do  not  reach  this  figure  ; 
others,  more  simply  printed,  may  yield  three  to  four  thousand 
proofs,  and  sometimes  even  a  still  larger  number. 

As  soon  as  the  plate  shows  the  slightest  change,  or  the  copper 
begins  to  reappear,  the  coating  of  steel  is  removed  by  chemical 
agents,  which,  acting  differently  on  the  two  metals,  corrode  the 
one,  while  they  leave  the  other  untouched.  The  plate  is  thus 
brought  back  to  its  original  state,  and  is  therefore  in  the  same 
condition  as  before  to  receive  a  second  steel-facing.  In  this  way 
plates  may  be  de-steeled  and  re-steeled  a  great  many  times,  and  the 
proofs  printed  from  them  may  be  carried  up  to  considerable  quan- 
tities. 

As  a  rule,  the  plates  are  not  steel-faced  until  after  the  proofs 
before  lettering  have  been  printed. 

Soft-ground  etchings,  the  biting  of  which  is  quite  shallow,  must 
be  steel-faced  after  two  to  three  hundred  impressions. 


62 


A   TREATISE    ON    ETCHING. 


The  delicacy  of  the  bur  thrown  up  by  the  dry  point  hardly  per- 
mits the  printing  of  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  proofs  on  an 
average  ;  steel-facing  carries  this  number  up  to  a  point  which 
cannot  be  fixed  absolutely,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  bur  takes  the 
steel  quite  as  well  and  as  solidly  as  an  etched  line.  Dry  points 
may,  therefore,  yield  long  editions  ;  the  steel-facing  must  in  that 
case  be  renewed  whenever  necessary.-'^ 

ICK).  Copper-facing  Zink  Plates.  —  Zink  plates  cannot  be 
steel-faced,  but  they  can  be  copper-faced.^  Steel-facing  has  been 
adopted  by  the  Chalcographie  Office  of  the  Louvre,  and  by  the 
Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,  that  remarkable  and  unique  publication 
which  is  an  honor  to  criticism  and  is  found  in  all  art  libraries. 
Steel-facing,  in  fact,  is  universally  employed  ;  it  preserves  in  good 
condition  the  beautiful  plates  of  our  engravers,  and  makes  it  pos- 
sible to  put  within  reach  of  a  great  many  people  engravings  of  a 
choice  kind,  which  but  lately  were  found  only  in  the  salons  of  the 
rich  and  the  collections  of  passionate  amateurs. 


An   Etcher's  Studio. 
From  the  Third  Edilion  of  Abraham  Bosse's  "Treatise,"  Paris,  1758. 


^r^^-::*^**'^'— 


Jt    ^nve/r^ . 


t'n  oiiiM  i  ajiyt4  naiwa^e.,  ii^u-y-  ■ 


■^Hmjtbg.  A  nû 


~^^Ui:tr 


NOTES 

BY    THE    TRANSLATOR. 


1.  (p.  2.)  To  these  associations  may  be  added  the  German  Etching 
Clubs  at  Diisseldorf  and  at  Weimar,  which  issue  yearly  portfolios  of 
plates  executed  by  their  members,  and  the  American  Etching  Clubs  at 
New  York  and  at  Cincinnati.  The  New  York  Etching  Club  was  organ- 
ized in  April,  1877,  with  Dr.  L.  M.  Yale  as  its  first  president.  At  this 
writing  Mr.  James  D.  Smillie  is  the  presiding  officer  of  the  club,  which 
has  about  twenty-four  members,  including  many  of  the  leading  artists  of 
New  York.  The  Cincinnati  Etching  Club  is  composed  almost  entirely 
of  amateurs.  Its  president  is  Mr.  George  McLaughlin.  Quite  lately 
an  Etching  Club  has  also  been  formed  in  Boston,  with  Mr.  Edmund 
H.  Garrett  as  president. 

2.  (p.  3.)  Benzine  is  preferable  to  turpentine  for  most  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  etcher,  but  more  especially  for  cleaning  soiled  hands.  It 
is  advisable  to  use  turpentine  only  when  the  benzine  proves  insufficient 
to  remove  the  last  traces  of  ground  or  ink  from  the  lines. 

3.  (p.  g.)  Something  about  tools  and  materials  has  already  been  said 
in  the  Introductory  Chapter,  p.  xiv.  What  is  left  to  be  said  follows 
here  :  — 

Copper  plates,  from  visiting-card  size  (at  %\  per  dozen),  to  any  required 
size  can  be  bought  of,  or  ordered  through,  the  firms  named  on  p.  xiii,  or 
of  Mr.  Geo.  B.  Sharp,  45  Gold  St.,  New  York.  Mr.  Sharp  will  send 
price-lists  on  application.  The  plates  usually  sold,  at  least  of  the 
smaller  sizes,  are  made  of  an  alloy,  not  of  pure  copper.  These  alloy 
plates  are  cheaper  and  bite  more  quickly  than  those  of  pure  copper,  but 
it  happens  occasionally  that  they  do  not  bite  evenly,  owing  to  want  of 
homogeneity  in  the  metal.  Still,  they  are  extensively  used,  and  ama- 
teurs will  find  them  preferable  to  the  more  expensive  copper  plates. 

Etching-ground.  A  recipe  for  a  cheap  and  yet  a  very  good  ordinary 
ground  has  been  given  on  p.  xv.     The  transparent  ground  consists  of 

5  parts,  by  weight,  of  white  wax. 
3      "  "  gum-mastic. 

Gum-mastic  costs  about  thirty-five  cents  an  ounce.  Melt  the  wax 
first,  and  add  the  gum-mastic  in  powder  gradually,  stirring  all  the  while 
with  a  clean  glass  or  metal  rod. 


64  NOTES. 

Stopping-out  varnish.  (See  p.  xvi.)  There  is  a  varnish  sold  at  painters' 
supply-stores  under  the  name  of  "  Asphaltum  Varnish  for  Sign-Writers' 
Use,"  which  does  very  well.  In  Boston  Asahel  Wheeler  sells  it  at  tif- 
teen  cents  a  bottle. 

Needle-holders  are  unnecessary  if  the  points  described  on  p.  xvi  are  used. 

Burnishers  are  sold  at  the  hardware-stores,  or  by  dealers  in  watch- 
makers' materials.     They  ought  not  to  cost  above  fifty  cents  apiece. 

Scrapers.  Same  as  burnishers.  Price  not  above  $i.  Some  dealers 
ask  $2,  which  is  exorbitant. 

A  lens  can  be  obtained  of  any  optician.  In  Boston  they  can  also  be 
had  of  A.  J.  Wilkinson  &  Co.,  hardware  dealers,  184  Washington  St., 
at  prices  varying  from  $1  to  $1.50. 

India-rubber  Jitiger-glovcs  are  unnecessary  if  you  use  the  "  plate- 
lifter  "  described  on  p.  xvii. 

Nitric  acid.  Messrs.  Powers  &  Weightman's  "  Nitrid  Acid,  C.  P." 
(i.  e.  chemically  pure),  recommended  on  p.  xvii,  is  42  degrees,  and 
Messrs.  P.  &  W.  inform  me  that  the  strength  is  tolerably  uniform.  If 
you  are  an  enthusiastic  etcher  it  will  be  best  to  buy  a  seven-pound  bot- 
tle, which  is  the  next  largest  to  the  one-pound  bottles. 

Tracing-paper^  gelatine.,  chalk,  and  sanguine  can  be  obtained  at  the 
artists'  material  stores. 

Emery-paper.     Hardware-stores.     Price  four  cents  a  sheet. 

Roller  for  revarnishing.     See  Note  5. 

To  the  tools  and  materials  mentioned  by  M.  Lalanne  the  following 
must  be  added  :  Whiting,  benzine,  turpentine,  alcohol,  willoiv  charcoal. 
The  last-named  article  can  be  supplied  by  Mr.  Geo.  B.  Sharp,  of  45 
Gold  St.,  New  York,  before  mentioned. 

4.  (p.  II.)  I  wrote  to  M.  I.alanne  to  find  out  the  ingredients  of  the 
petit  vernis  liquide  and  vernis  au  pinceau,  but  he  says  that  he  does  not 
know,  and  that  the  recipes  are  a  secret  of  the  maker  of  these  varnishes. 
The  asphaltum  varnish  mentioned  on  p.  xvi  and  in  Note  3  does  excel- 
lently well,  however,  both  for  stopping  out  and  retouching.  After  it  has 
been  fanned  (see  p.  xxi)  uritil  it  has  thickened  sufficiently  not  to  stick 
to  the  finger  when  touched,  but  before  it  is  quite  dry,  it  can  be  worked 
upon  with  the  point.  If  not  dry  enough,  which  will  manifest  itself 
readily  as  soon  as  you  have  drawn  the  first  line,  fan  again.  If  it  were 
allowed  to  dry  absolutely,  it  would  chip  off  under  the  needle.  There  is 
a  liquid  ground,  made  by  Mr.  Louis  Delnoce  of  the  American  Bank 
Note  Company,  New  York,  which  —  so  Mr.  Jas.  D.  Smillie  informs  me 
—  is  used  for  retouches  by  the  engravers  of  the  company,  is  applied 
with  the  brush,  is  a  very  quick  dryer,  tough,  and  resists  acid  perfectly. 
Mr.  Delnoce  sells  it  in  ounce  bottles  at  seventv-five  cents  each. 


NOTES.  65 

5.  (p.  12.)  The  roller  for  revarnishing,  spoken  of  by  M.  Lalanne, 
and  also  reconunencled  by  Mr.  Hamerton,  cannot  be  bought  in  this 
coinitry.  Nor  —  with  all  due  deference  to  the  great  experience  of  M. 
Lalanne  —  is  such  a  large  and  expensive  roller  necessary.  The  rollers 
used  by  our  most  experienced  etchers  —  Mr.  J  as.  D.  Smillie,  for  instance 
—  are  little  cylinders  of  India-rubber,  about  one  inch  in  diameter  and  one 
and  one-half  inches  long.  They  cost  from  50  cents  to  $2  each.  But 
these  rollers  cannot  be  used  jvith  etching-paste.  The  oil  of  lavender  in  the 
paste  attacks  the  rubber  and  destroys  it.  As  to  the  manner  of  using 
the  India-rubber  roller  see  Note  12. 

6.  (p.  20.)  The  use  of  bordering  wax  is  not  advisable.  But  as  some 
etchers  still  employ  it,  I  add  a  recipe  for  making  it,  which  was  kindly 
communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Peter  Moran  of  Philadelphia:  — 

3  lbs.  Burgundy  pitch. 
I  lb.  yellow  beeswax. 
I  gill  sweet  oil. 

Melt  together  and  then  form  into  strips. 

7.  (p.  21.)  Etching  is  the  most  individual  of  the  reproductive  arts  (or 
rather  of  the  multiplying  arts,  the  German  vervielfaltigende  Kiinste),  even 
in  its  technical  processes.  Therefore  nearly  every  etcher  has  his  own 
ways  of  doing,  and  few  agree  on  all  points.  Many  etchers  do  not 
think  it  necessary  to  weaken  the  acid  as  described  in  the  text.  But  be 
sure  to  let  xX.  cool  a-iiex  it  has  been  mixed  with  water,  before  you  immerse 
your  plate  ! 

8.  (p.  22.)  It  would  take  altogether  too  long  to  wait  for  the  perfect 
drying  of  the  asphaltum  varnish,  nor  is  it  necessary.  Fan  it,  as  de- 
scribed in  Note  4,  and  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  stick  you  can  again 
immerse  your  plate. 

9.  (p.  25.)  I  have  never  been  able  to  notice  this  turning  dark  of  the 
lines,  although  I  have  had  plates  in  the  bath  for  several  hours,  and 
some  of  my  artist  acquaintances  whom  I  have  consulted  on  the  point, 
have  confirmed  my  experience.  Possibly  the  phenomenon  described  by 
M.  Lalanne  may  be  caused  by  impurities  in  the  acid. 

10.  (p.  27.)  If  the  reader  will  make  use  of  the  device  for  lifting  the 
plate  into  and  out  of  the  bath,  which  I  have  described  on  p.  xvii,  there 
will  be  no  necessity  of  burning  his  fingers.  With  a  little  precaution,  and 
a  plentiful  use  of  benzine  for  washing  and  cleaning,  the  daintiest  lady's 
hand  need  not  suffer  from  etching. 

11.  (p.  29.)    For  directions  for  making  this  ground  see  Note  3. 

12.  (p.  38.)  To  make  the  varnish,  or  rather  etching-paste,  recom- 
mended in   the  text,   a  warm-water  bath  is   not  absolutely   necessary. 

5 


66  NOTES. 

Take  any  small  porcelain  or  earthenware  vessel  (a  small  gallipot  is  very 
convenient,  because  the  etching-paste  can  be  kept  in  it  for  use),  and  set 
it  upon  a  metal  frame,  easily  made  of  wire,  so  that  you  can  introduce  a 
spirit  lamp  under  it.  Break  up  a  ball,  or  part  of  a  ball,  of  ordinary 
etching-ground,  and  throw  it  into  the  pot.  Heat  the  pot  carefully,  so  as 
just  to  allow  the  ground  to  melt.  When  it  has  melted,  add  oil  of  laven- 
der (worth  thirty-five  cents  an  ounce  at  the  druggist's),  drop  by  drop, 
and  keep  stirring  the  mixture  with  a  clean  glass  rod.  From  time  to  time 
allow  a  drop  of  the  mixture  to  fall  on  a  cold  glass  or  metal  plate.  If,  on 
cooling,  it  assumes  the  consistency  of  pomatum,  the  paste  is  finished. 

As  I  have  said  before,  this  paste  cannot  be  used  with  the  India-rub- 
ber rollers  recommended  in  Note  5.  With  these  rollers  the  regrounding 
must  be  done  with  the  ordinary  etching-ground  with  the  aid  of  heat. 
Warm  your  plate  so  that  you  can  just  bear  to  touch  it  with  the  hand, 
and  allow  some  of  the  ground  to  melt  on  a  second,  unused  copper 
plate.  Also  warm  the  roller  slightly.  Then  proceed  as  M.  Lalanne 
directs  in  his  fifty-seventh  paragraph.  The  slight  changes  in  the  pro- 
ceeding, which  grow  out  of  the  differences  between  cold  and  warm 
ground,  are  self-evident. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  roller  can  also  be  used  for  lay- 
ing the  first  ground.  But  it  is  of  no  use  ou  aux  but  perfectly  smooth, 
straight  plates,  as  it  cannot  penetrate  into  holhnos.  When  it  is  not  avail- 
able the  dabber  must  be  employed  in  the  old  manner, 

13.  (p.  39.)  Some  engravers  prefer  the  dabber  to  the  roller  even  for 
regrounding  entire  plates.  In  that  case  the  ground  is  spread  on  the 
margin  of  the  plate,  if  that  be  wide  enough,  or  on  a  separate  plate,  and 
is  taken  up  by  the  dabber.  The  plate  to  be  regrounded  must  of  course 
be  warmed  as  for  laying  a  ground  with  the  roller,  and  care  must  be 
taken  not  to  have  the  dabber  overcharged  with  ground. 

14.  (p.  40.)  In  default  of  the  charcoal  paste,  rubbing  with  the  finest 
emery-paper  will  do  to  remove  the  polish. 

15.  (p.  40.)  I  cannot  direct  the  reader  to  a  copper-planer,  and  there- 
fore it  will  be  best  to  give  some  directions  for  removing  faulty  passages. 
The  following  paragraphs  are  copied  bodily  from  Mr.  Hamerton  :  — 

•'  The  most  rapid  way  is  to  use  sandpapers  of  different  degrees  of  coarse- 
ness, the  coarsest  first,  and  then  the  scraper,  and,  finally,  willow  charcoal  with 
olive  oil.     The  charcoal  will  leave  the  surface  in  a  fit  state  to  etch  upon. 

"This  scraping  and  rubbing  hollows  out  the  surface  of  the  copper,  and  if  it 
hollows  it  too  much  the  printing  will  not  be  quite  satisfactory  in  that  part  of 
the  plntc.  In  that  case  you  have  nothing  to  do  hut  mark  tiie  spot  on  the  back 
of  the  plate  with  a  pair  of  calipers,  then  lay  the  plate  on  its  face  upon  a  block 
of  polished  steel,  and  give  it  two  or  three  blows  with  a  hammer  (mind  that  the 
hammer  is  rounded  so  as  not  to  indent  the  ropper)." 


NOTES.  67 

16.  (p.  48.)  The  process  here  alluded  to  is  the  one  used  by  Mr. 
Haden.  The  mordant  is  the  so-called  Dutch  mordant,  and  the  manner 
of  making  it  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Hamerton  :  — 

"  First  heat  the  water  by  putting  the  bottle  containing  it  into  a  pan  also 
containing  water,  and  keep  it  on  the  fire  till  that  in  the  pan  boils.  Now  add 
the  chlorate  of  potash,  and  see  that  every  crystal  of  it  is  dissolved.  Shake  the 
bottle  to  help  the  solution.  When  no  more  crystals  are  to  be  seen,  you  may 
add  the  hydrochloric  acid.  Make  a  good  quantity  of  this  mordant  at  once,  so 
as  always  to  have  a  plentiful  supply  by  you." 

For  a  full  account  of  the  Haden  process  see  Mr.  Hamerton's  "  Etch- 
er's Handbook,"  or  the  second  edition  of  his  "  Etching  and  Etchers." 

This  Dutch  mordant  is  preferred  to  nitric  acid  by  many  etchers,  — 
even  when  working,  not  in  the  bath,  but  in  the  ordinary  way,  as  taught 
by  M.  Lalanne,  —  because  it  bites  down  into  the  copper,  and  hardly 
widens  the  lines.  "  From  my  experience,"  writes  Mr.  Jas.  D.  Smillie, 
in  a  letter  now  before  me,  "  I  unhesitatingly  prefer  the  Dutch  mordant 
for  copper  ;  it  bites  a  very  fine  black  line,  it  is  not  so  severe  a  trial 
to  the  ground,  and  it  does  not  need  constant  watching." 

Mr.  Smillie,  however,  uses  the  mordant  much  stronger  than  Mr. 
Haden.  He  has,  in  fact,  invented  a  process  of  his  own,  which,  in  a  let- 
ter to  me,  he  describes  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  draw  and  bite  as  I  progress  ;  that  is,  I  draw  in  the  darkest  parts  first, 
give  them  a  good  nip  with  the  mordant,  wash  the  plate  and  dry  it,  and  then 
draw  the  next  stage.  I  can  thus,  by  drawing  lines  over  a  part  that  has 
already  been  exposed  to  the  mordant,  interlace  heavy  and  hght  lines  in  a 
way  that  I  could  not  by  any  other  process.  I  etch  upon  an  unsmoked  ground, 
and  as  the  Dutch  mordant  bites  a  black  line,  I  see  my  etching  clearly  as  it 
advances.  By  holding  the  head  well  over  the  plate,  the  Unes  can  be  very 
distinctly  seen  as  they  are  drawn.  After  a  little  experimenting,  the  etcher  will 
find  the  angle  at  which  he  can  see  his  unbitten  work  upon  an  unsmoked 
ground  without  trouble.  Mr.  Hamerton's  formula  seemed  to  me  too  weak,  so 
I  am  experimenting  with 

Muriatic  acid,  i  ounce. 

Chlorate  of  potash,  1-5    " 
Water,  5  ounces. 

'"This  is  the  mordant  I  am  now  using,  and  I  have  found  it  to  work  well. 
Still,  as  I  am  not  a  scientific  chemist,  and  my  knowledge  is  entirely  empiric, 
I  am  prepared  to  believe  any  chemist  who  may  tell  me  that  I  might  do  as 
well,  or  better,  with  more  water. 

"  Generally  I  do  not  get  all  the  color  I  wish  by  the  first  process,  as  I  can 
see  without  removing  the  ground  ;  so,  when  my  etching  is  finished,  I  reverse 
the  engine  and  begin  stopping  out  and  biting  upon  the  original  ground,  as  it  is 
ordinarily  done.     I  do  not  use  the  black  asphaltum  varnish  for  stopping  out, 


68  NOTES. 

but  a  transparent  varnish  that  is  simply  white  resin  dissolved  in  alcohol.  If 
applied  very  carefully,  and  allowed  time  to  dry.  it  is  perfectly  clear  and  trans- 
parent, and  tlie  relations  of  all  parts  of  the  plate  can  be  seen,  —  the  stopped 
out  as  well  as  the  bitten  lines,  —  but  to  a  careless  worker  it  presents  many 
troubles.  It  is  so  transparent  that  it  is  hard  to  see  what  is  stopped  out  and 
what  is  not,  and  if  washed  with  very  warm  water,  or  before  it  is  thoroughly 
dry,  it  turns  cloudy  and  semi-opaque.  I  have  no  trouble  with  it,  and  could 
not  get  along  without  it.  I  make  it  myself. — have  no  formula,  —  adding 
alcohol  until  it  is  thin  enough  to  flow  readily  from  the  brush.  It  has  a  great 
advantage  over  asphaltum  varnish,  as  it  does  not  flow  along  a  line.  It  is 
viscid  enough  to  remain  just  where  it  is  put,  and  is  as  perfect  a  protection  as 
any  asphaltum  varnish." 

Mr.  Smillie  heats  his  bath  on  the  plate-warmer,  but  not  to  exceed  80°, 
or  at  most  90°.  Such  a  bath  of  hot  mordant  acts  much  more  quickly 
than  a  cold  acid  bath,  less  than  two  minutes  being  sufficient  for  the 
lightest  lines. 

17.  (p.  50.)  Gravers  are  of  different  shapes,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  line  which  they  are  intended  to  produce.  They  are  sometimes 
kept  ht  the  hardware-stores,  as,  for  instance,  by  A.  J.  Wilkinson  &  Co., 
184  Washington  St.,  Boston.  This  house  also  issues  an  illustrated  cata- 
logue of  engravers'  tools. 

18.  (p.  52.)  M.  Lalanne,  it  seems  to  me,  does  not  do  full  justice  to 
zinc  plates.  Very  delicate  lines  can  be  bitten  on  zinc  if  the  acid  is 
sufficiently  weakened.  I  have  found  that  one  part  of  nitric  acid  to 
eight  parts  of  water,  used  on  zinc,  is  about  equal  to  one-half  acid  and 
one-half  water,  used  on  copper  for  about  the  same  length  of  time.  Zinc 
plates  can  also  be  bought  of  Mr.  Geo.  B.  Sharp,  45  Gold  St.,  New 
York.  As  to  the  length  of  edition  that  can  be  printed  from  a  zinc 
plate,  see  Note  27. 

19.  (p.  52.)  This  is  not  strictly  correct.  The  "manière  de  crayon," 
as  practised  by  Demarteau  and  others,  differs  materially  from  soft- 
ground  etching.  A  ground  was  laid  and  smoked  as  usual,  and  on  it  the 
drawing  was  produced,  by  a  variety  of  instruments,  such  as  points, 
some  of  them  multiple,  the  roulette,  the  mattoir,  etc. 

20.  (p.  55.)  There  is  another  method  of  getting  what  may  be  called 
a  proof,  i.  e.  by  taking  a  cast  in  plaster.  Ink  your  plate  and  wipe  it 
clean,  as  described  in  Note  22,  and  then  pour  over  it  plaster-of-Paris 
mi.xed  with  water.  When  the  plaster  has  hardened  it  can  easily  be 
separated  from  the  plate,  and  the  ink  in  the  lines  will  adhere  to  it.  To 
make  such  a  cast  you  must  manage  a  rim  around  your  plate,  or  vou 
may  lay  it  into  a  paper  box,  face  upward.  Mix  about  half  a  tumbler 
full  of  water  (or  more,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plate)  with  double 
the  quantity  of  plaster,  adding  the  plaster,  little  by  little,  and  stirring 


NOTES.  69 

continually.  When  the  mixture  begins  to  thicken  pour  it  on  the  plate, 
and  if  necessary  spread  it  over  the  whole  of  the  surface  by  means  of  a 
piece  of  wood  or  anything  else  that  will  answer.    Then  allow  it  to  harden. 

21.  (p.  55.)  The  chafing-dish  and  the  ball  (or  dabber)  are  now  re- 
placed by  the  gas  flame  and  the  inking-roller  in  most  printing  estab- 
lishments. But  if  you  desire  to  do  your  own  proving,  you  will  have  to 
use  a  dabber,  the  manner  of  making  which  is  described  in  the  next  note. 

22.  (p.  59.)  If  there  is  no  plate-printer  near  you,  but  you  have  access 
to  a  lithographic  printing  establishment,  you  can  have  your  proofs 
taken  there.  "  Lithographic  presses,"  says  A.  Potémont,  "  give  perfectly 
good  and  satisfactory  proofs  of  etchings.'" 

Not  every  printer  can  print  an  etching  as  it  ought  to  be  printed.  A 
man  may  be  an  excellent  printer  of  line  engravings  and  mezzotints,  and 
yet  may  be  totally  unfit  to  print  an  etching.  I  would  recommend  the 
following  printing  establishments  :  — 

New  York  :    Kimmel  &  Voigt,  242  Canal  Street. 

Boston  :   J.  H.  Daniels,  223  Washington  Street. 

If  you   desire  to  establish  an    amateur  printing-office  of  your   own 

you  will  need,  in  addition  to  the  tools  and  materials  already  in  your 
possession  :  — 

A  press,  A  dabber  or  ball, 

A  plate-warmer,  Rags  for  wiping, 

An  ink-slab.  Printing-ink, 

A  muller,  Paper. 

The  press.  The  presses  used  by  professional  plate-printers  will  be 
thought  too  large  and  too  costly  by  most  etchers.  There  is  a  small 
press  sold  by  Madame  Ve.  A.  Cadart,  56  Boulevard  Haussmann,  Paris, 
of  which  a  representation  is  given  on  the  next  page. 

This  press,  accompanied  by  all  the  necessary  accessories,  —  rags, 
ink,  paper,  plate-warmer,  dabber,  etc.,  —  sells  in  Paris  at  the  price  of  15a 
francs  (about  $30).  There  is  an  extra  charge  for  boxing  ;  and  freight, 
duties,  etc.,  must  also  be  paid  for,  extra,  on  presses  imported  to  this 
country.  The  publishers  of  this  book  are  ready  to  take  orders  for  these 
presses,  but  I  cannot  inform  the  reader  what  the  charges  will  amount 
to,  as  no  importations  have  yet  been  made  by  Messrs.  Estes  &  Lauriat. 

There  is  also  a  small  press  invented  by  Mr.  Hamerton  and  made  in 
London  by  Mr.  Charles  Roberson,  99  Long  Acre,  which  sells  on  the 
other  side,  for  the  press  onlv,  at  two  guineas  for  the  smallest,  and  four 
guineas  for  a  larger  size.  These  presses  are  smaller  than  the  Cadart 
presses,  and,  according  to  Mr.  Hamerton,  are  "very  portable  affairs, 
which  an  etcher  might  put  in  his  box  when  travelling,  and  use  any- 
where, in  an  inn,  in  a  friend's  house,  or  even  out  of  doors  when  etching, 
from  nature." 


70 


NOTES. 


A  small  press  has  also  quite  lately  been  introduced  by  Messrs. 
Janentzky  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  which  costs  only  $16.50  (without 
accessories),  and  is  well  recommended  by  those  who  have  used  it. 


The  press  is  not  complete  without  the  flannels  spoken  of  in  the  text 
(p.  56,  §  87).  There  is  a  kind  of  very  thick  flannel  specially  made  for 
printers'  use.  But  if  this  cannot  be  had  (of  some  plate-printer)  any 
good  flannel  with  a  piece  of  thick  soft  cloth  over  it  will  do  well 
enough. 


NOTES.  71 

In  adjusting  the  press  care  must  be  taken  that  the  pressure  is  neither 
too  great  nor  too  small.     This  is  a  matter  of  experience. 

The  plate-warmer  is  a  box  made  of  strong  sheet-iron,  into  which 
either  a  gas-jet  or  a  small  kerosene  lamp  can  be  introduced.  If  you 
happen  to  have  a  gas-stove,  and  can  get  an  iron  plate  of  some  kind  to 
lay  across  the  top,  you  will  have  an  excellent  plate-warmer. 

The  ink-slab.  Any  smooth  slab  of  marble,  slate,  or  lithographic  stone, 
about  a  foot  square,  will  do. 

A  muller.  This  is  a  pestle  of  stone,  fîat  at  the  bottom,  used  for 
grinding  colors  or  ink. 

A  dabber  or  ball.  Take  strips  of  thick  cloth  or  flannel,  about  four 
or  five  inches  wide  ;  roll  them  together  as  tightly  as  possible,  until 
you  have  a  cylinder  of  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter  ;  bind  firmly  by 
strong  twine  wound  all  around  the  cylinder;  then  cut  one  end  with  a 
large  sharp  knife,  so  as  to  get  a  smooth  surface.  After  the  dabber 
has  been  used  for  some  time,  and  the  ink  has  hardened  in  it,  cut  off 
another  slice  so  as  to  get  a  fresh  surface. 

Rags  for  wiping.  Fine  Swiss  muslin  and  the  fabric  known  as 
cheese  cloth  make  good  rags  for  wiping.  They  can  be  bought  at  the 
dry-goods  stores.  As  they  are  charged  with  some  material  to  make 
them  stiff  and  increase  the  weight,  they  must  be  washed  before  they  are 
used.  When  they  have  become  too  much  charged  with  ink  they  may 
be  boiled  out  in  a  solution  of  potash  or  soda  in  water.  The  Swiss  mus- 
lin costs  about  twelve  cents  a  yard,  the  cheese  cloth  about  five. 

I  had  a  lot  of  rags  specially  sent  to  me  from  Paris,  as  I  wished  to  see 
the  difference  between  the  soft  and  the  stiff  muslin.  The  parcel  con- 
tained a  collection  of  pieces  of  a  sort  of  Swiss  muslin,  evidently  old  cur- 
tains, and  some  pieces  of  old  cotton  shirting,  some  of  which  had  done 
duty  at  the  Hôtel  des  Invalides,  still  bearing  its  stamp  ! 

Printing-ink  and  paper.     (See  Notes  23  and  24.) 

To  i7ik  the  plate.,  place  it  on  the  plate-warmer  and  allow  it  to  become 
as  hot  as  your  hand  can  bear.  Then  take  up  the  ink  from  the  ink-slab 
with  the  dabber  and  spread  it  all  over  the  surface,  moving  the  dab- 
ber along  with  a  rocking  motion,  but  not  striking  the  plate  with  it. 
Take  care  that  the  lines  are  well  filled.  Sometimes,  in  the  first  inking 
of  the  plate,  it  is  necessary  to  use  the  finger  to  force  the  ink  into  the  lines. 

In  wiping  the  plate  the  first  operation  is  to  remove  all  the  superfluous 
ink  from  the  surface  by  means  of  a  rag.  What  follows  depends  on  the 
kind  of  impression  you  desire  to  get.  If  you  want  a  natural,  clean,  or 
dry  proof,  as  these  impressions  are  variously  calletl  (i.  e.  an  impression 
which  shows  only  black  lines  on  a  perfectly  clear  white  ground),  charge 
the  palm  of  your  hand  with  a  very  little  whiting  or  Spanish  white,  and 


72  NOTES. 

with  it  finish  the  wiping  of  the  plate.  This  operation  will  leave  the  sur- 
face of  the  plate  perfectly  clean  and  bright,  while  the  ink  remains  in  the 
lines.  If  you  desire  to  have  an  even  tint  left  all  over  the  plate,  avoid 
the  use  of  the  hand,  and  wipe  with  the  rag  only.  Plate-printers  use 
their  rags  moist,  but  for  printing  etchings  a  dry  rag  is  preferable,  as  it 
leaves  more  of  a  tint  on  the  plate.  Note,  also,  that  the  rag  must  be 
tolerably  well  charged  with  ink  to  enable  you  to  wipe  a  good  tint  with  it. 

The  margin  of  the  plate,  even  if  a  tint  is  left  over  it,  must  always  be 
wiped  clean.  This  is  best  accomplished  by  a  bit  of  cotton  cloth  charged 
with  whiting. 

For  the  rest,  nothing  is  left  but  to  experiment  according  to  the  hints 
given  in  the  text  by  M.  Lalanne. 

23.  (p.  59.)  If  you  can,  buy  your  ink  of  a  plate-printer  or  of  a  lithog- 
rapher. That  used  by  book-printers  will  not  do  !  The  trouble  is  that 
the  ink  used  by  ordinary  plate-printers  is  of  a  disagreeably  cold  cast,  as 
it  is  mixed  with  blue.  Etchings  ought  to  be  printed  with  a  ^varm 
black,  and  sometimes,  especially  in  the  case  of  somewhat  overbitten 
plates,  with  an  ink  of  a  decidedly  brownish  hue.  Inks  are  made  of  lin- 
seed-oil varnish  (i.  e.  linseed  oil  that  has  been  boiled  down  or  burned), 
and  the  blacks  mentioned  in  the  text.  There  are  various  qualities  of 
varnish  according  to  its  consistency,  varying  from  thin  through  medium 
to  stifif.  If  you  wish  to  mix  your  own  ink,  you  must  try  to  procure  the 
materials  of  some  plate-printer  or  lithographer.  For  varnish  use  the 
medium,  for  black  the  Francfort.  The  burnt  Sienna  (which  you  can 
buy  at  any  paint-shop)  is  used  only  to  warm  up  the  black.  Lay  some 
of  the  dry  color  on  your  ink-slab,  add  a  very  little  of  the  varnish,  and 
mix  with  the  muller.  Then  add  more  varnish  until  the  ink  forms  a 
tolerably  stifï  paste.  The  grinding  must  be  carefully  done,  so  as  to 
avoid  grittiness.  Besides,  if  the  color  is  not  thoroughly  well  incorpo- 
rated with  the  varnish,  the  ink  will  not  stand.  To  preserve  the  ink  for 
future  use,  put  it  into  some  vessel  with  a  cover,  and  pour  water  over  it. 
The  water  standing  on  top  of  the  ink  keeps  it  soft.  Otherwise  the  var- 
nish would  harden. 

24.  (p.  60.)  The  heavy  Dutch  hand-made  papers  are  still  preferred 
by  most  people  for  etchings  ;  but  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  procure  them  in  this  country.  The  paper  known  as  Lalanne  charcoal 
paper,  which  is  likewise  a  hand-made  paper,  can  be  bought  at  the  artist's 
material  stores.  Good  drawing-paper  will  also  answer.  The  worst,  be- 
cause most  inartistic,  of  all,  is  the  plain  white  plate  paper.  The  paper 
used  for  the  etchings  in  the  American  Art  Review,  first  made  espe- 
cially for  this  journal  according  to  my  suggestions,  has  excellent  print- 
ing qualities,  although,  being  a  machine-made,  unglued  paper,  it  lacks 


NOTES.  73 

some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Dutch  hand-made  paper.  But  its 
texture  is  very  good,  and  it  takes  up  the  ink  even  better  than  the  Dutch 
papers. 

Japanese  paper  can  be  procured  of  the  firms  named  on  page  xiii. 

Dry  paper  will  not  take  a  decent  impression,  and  the  sheets  to  be 
used  for  printing  must  therefore  be  moistened.  To  prepare  the  ordi- 
nary paper,  take  three  or  four  sheets  at  a  time,  and  pass  them  slowly 
through  clean  water  contained  in  a  pail  or  other  vessel.  Wet  as  many 
sheets  as  you  may  need,  lay  them  on  top  of  one  another,  place  the  pile 
between  two  boards,  and  allow  them  to  lie  thus  under  tolerably  heavy 
pressure  for  at  least  twelve,  or,  better  still,  for  twenty-four  hours.  The 
paper  will  then  be  ready  for  use. 

To  prepare  Japanese  paper,  lay  each  sheet  between  two  wet  sheets 
of  ordinary  paper,  and  let  it  lie  as  before. 

25.  (p.  60.)  Epreuves  de  remarque.  The  remarque  usually  consists  in 
leaving  unfinished  some  little  detail  in  an  out-of-the-way  corner  of  the 
plate.  After  the  épreuves  de  remarque  have  been  printed,  this  detail  is 
finished.  A  person  who  cannot  tell  a  good  impression  from  a  bad 
one,  or  does  not  know  whether  a  plate  is  spoiled  or  still  in  good  condi- 
tion, without  some  such  extraneous  sign,  has  slight  claim  to  be  consid- 
ered a  connoisseur. 

26.  (p.  62.)  New  York  is,  for  the  present,  I  believe,  the  only  place 
•where  steel-facing  is  done  in  America.  I  can  recommend  Mr.  F.  A. 
Ringler,  21  and  23  Barclay  Street,  New  York. 

27.  (p.  62.)  Zinc  plates  can  be  steel-faced,  but  the  facing  cannot  be 
renewed,  as  it  cannot  be  removed.  The  zinc  plate  on  which  Mr.  Lan- 
sil's  little  etching,  given  in  this  volume,  is  executed,  was  steel-faced.  It 
is  feasible  also,  the  electrotypers  tell  me,  to  deposit  a  thin  coating  of 
copper  on  the  zinc  first,  and  then  to  superimpose  a  coating  of  steel. 
In  that  case  the  steel-facing  can  be  renewed  as  long  as  the  copper- 
facing  under  it  remains  intact. 


LIST  OF  WORKS 


ON    THE. 


PRACTICE  AND    HISTORY  OF  ETCHING* 


A.    Technical  Treatises. 

De  la  gravtire  en  taille-dottce,  à  Veau-forte  et  au  burin,  ensemble  la  manière 
d'en  imprimer  les  planches  et  d'en  construire  la  presse,  par  Abraham 
Bosse.     Paris,  1645. 

Traité  des  nianilres  de  graver  en  taille-douce  sur  V airain  par  le  moyen  des 
eaux-fortes  et  des  vernis  durs  et  mois,  par  le  s.  Abraham  Bosse,  aug- 
menté de  la  nouvelle  manière  dont  se  sert  M.  Leclerc,  graveur  du  roi. 
Paris,  1701. 

*  De  la  manière  de  graver  à  Veau-forte  et  au  burin,  et  de  la  gravure  en 

manière    noir  .  .  .  par   Abraham    Bosse.      Nouvelle   édition.  .  .  .  Paris, 
1758.     Small  8vo.     111. 

*  Die  Ku7ist  in  Kupfer  zu  stechen  sowohl  mittelst  des  Aetzwassers  als  mit 

dem   Grabstichel  .  .  .  durch   Abraham    Bosse.  .  .  .  Aus   dem    Franzôsi- 
schen  ins  Deutsche  iibersetzt.     Dresden,  1765.     Small  Svo.     111. 

The  Art  of  Graveing  and  Etching,  wherein  is  exprest  the  true  Way  of 
Graveing  in  Copper  ;  allso  the  Manner  and  Method  of  that  famous  Callot, 
and  M.  Bosse,  in  their  several  Ways  of  Etching.  Published  by  William 
Faithorne.     London,  1662.     Svo.     111. 

Idée  de  la  gravure,  par  M.  de  M  *  *  *.  Without  place  or  date.  i2mo. 
(This  essay  appeared  originally  in  the  "Mercure"  for  April,  1756,  and 
was  afterwards  printed  separately.  See,  also,  in  the  "  Mercure"  for  1755, 
a  notice,  announcing  the  publication  of  a  print  by  de  Marcenay  de  Ghuy 
after  the  elder  Parrocel.     This  notice  was  also  printed  separately.) 

*  This  list  is  very  far  from  being  complete,  especially  in  the  last  section,  "  Individual 
Artists."  I  have  made  a  few  additions,  which  have  been  marked  by  an  asterisk.  Those  who 
desire  to  pursue  the  subject  will  find  a  very  full  bibliographical  list  in  J.  E.  Wessely's  Anlei- 
tung  zur  Kenntniss  und  zum  Sammeln  dcr  Werke  des  Kunstdruckes ,  Leipzig,  Weigel,  1876, 
p.  279  et  seq.  —  Translator. 


^6  LIST    OF    WORKS    ON    THE 

Idée  de  la  {gravure  .  .  .  par  M.  de  Marcenay  de  Ghuy.  Paris,  1764.  In 
-4  de  16  et  10  pag.    (This  is  a  second  edition  of  the  work  last  mentioned.) 

*  AnUiUing  sur  Aetzkiinst  .  .   .  nach    eigenen    praktischen    Erfahrungen 

herausgegeben  von  Johann  Heinrich  Meynier.  Hof,  1S04.  8vo. 
111. 

Lectures  on  the  Art  of  Engraving,  delivered  at  the  Royal  Institute  of  Great 
Britain,  by  John  Landseer,  Engraver  to  the  King.    London,  1807.    8vo. 

Three  Lectures  on  Engraving,  delivered  at  the  Surrey  Institution  in  the  Year 
1809,  by  Robert  Mitchell  Meadows.     London,  1811.     8vo. 

Manuel  du  graveur,  ou  Traité  complet  de  la  gravure  en  tous  genres,  d'après 
les  renseignements  fournis  par  plusieurs  artistes.  Par  A.  M.  Perrot. 
Paris,  1830.     In  -18. 

Des  mordants,  des  ver?iis  et  des  planches  dans  Part  du  graveur,  ou  Traité 
complet  de  la  gravure.    Par  Pierre  Deleschamps.    Paris,  1836.    In -8. 

*  Vollstàndiges  Handbuch   der  Gravirkunst,  enthaltend  griindliche  Beleh- 

rungen  iiber  die  Aetzwàsser,  die  Aetzgriinde,  die  Platten  und  die  Gravir- 
maschinen.  .  .  .  Von  Pet.  Deleschamps.  Deutsch,  mit  Zusatzen,  von 
Dr.  Chr.  h.  Schmidt.     Quedlinburg  und  Leipzig,  Basse,  1838.     111. 

The  Art  of  Engraving,  with  the  various  Modes  of  Operation.  .  .  .  By  T.  H. 
Fielding.     London,  1844.     8vo.     111. 

Lettre  de  Martial  sur  les  éléments  de  la  gravure  à  l'eau-forte.  Paris,  1864. 
(Etched  on  4  fol.  plates,  illustrated.) 

Nouveau  traité  de  la  gravure  à  Peau-forte  à  l'usage  des  peintres  et  des  des- 
sinateurs, par  A.  P.  Martial.     Paris,  A.  Cadart.    1873.     111. 

*  The  Etcher's  Handbook  :  giving  an  Account  of  the  Old  Processes,  and  of 

Processes  recently  discovered.  By  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton.  Lon- 
don, Roberson,  1871.  111.  (See  also  Mr.  Hamerton's  Etching  and  Etchers, 
2d  edition.) 

*  Mr.  Seymour  Haden  on  Etching.     Lectures  delivered  at  the  Royal  Institu- 

tion, reports  of  which  were  published  in  "The  Magazine  of  Art."  1879, 
and  in  the  London  "  Building  News,"  1879. 

*  The  Etcher's  Guide.     By  Thomas  Bishop.     Philadelphia,  Janentzky.  1879. 

111. 

Grammaire  des  Arts  du  Dessin,  par  Charles  Blanc.  In  this  work  (of 
which  there  is  also  an  English  translation),  there  is  a  special  chapter  on 
Etching. 

Charles  Jacque.     Articles  by  him  on  Etching  in  the  "  Magasin  pittoresque." 

Gravure.  —  Article  extrait  de  l'Encyclopédie  des  arts  et  métiers.  In  -  fdl  , 
de  9  pag..  fig. 


PRACTICE   AND   HISTORY   OF    ETCHING.  7/ 


B.     Historical  and  Theoretical. 

*  Anleitung  zur  Kupferstichkunde.     Von  Adam   von    Bartsch.     Wien, 

182 1.     2  vols.  8vo.     Plates. 

Des  types  et  des  manières  des  maîtres  graveurs,  pour  servir  à  l'histoire  de  la 
gravure  en  Italie,  en  Allemagne,  dans  les  Pays-Bas  et  en  France,  par 
Jules  Renouvier.     Montpellier,  i 853-1 856.     4  parties  in -4. 

La  gravure  depuis  son  origine,  par  Henri  Delaborde.  i860.  (These 
articles  appeared  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  for  Dec.  i  and  15,  1830, 
and  Jan.  i,  1851.) 

Histoire  de  la  gravure  en  France,  par  Georges  Duplessis.  Paris,  1861. 
In  -8.  (This  work  was  crowned  by  the  French  Institute  [Académie  des 
beaux-arts].) 

Etching  and  Etchers.  By  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton.  London,  Macmillan, 
1868.    4to.     111. 

*  Etching  and  Etchers.     By  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton.     (Second  edi- 

tion.)    1876.     London,  Macmillan.     Boston,  Roberts  Bros. 

*  The  Origin  and  Antiquity  0/  Engraving.  ...  By  W.  S.  Baker.     Boston, 

Osgood,  1875.    4to.     (Second  edition.    111.) 

La  Gravure  à  V eau-forte,  essai  historique  par  Raoul  de  Saint-Arroman. 
—  Comment  je  devins  graveur  à  r eau-forte,  ^ax  le  comte  Lepic  Paris, 
Cadart,  1876. 

*  Anleitung  zur  Kenntniss   und  zum   Sammeln    der    Werke  des   Kunst- 

druckes,  von  J.  E.  Wessely.     Leipzig,  Weigel,  1876.     8vo. 

*  About  Etching.     Part  I.    Notes  by  Mr.  Seymour  Haden  on  a  Collection 

of  Etchings  by  the  Great  Masters.  .  .  .  Part  II.  An  Annotated  Cata- 
logue of  the  Etchings  exhibited.  148  New  Bond  Street  (London),  1879. 
(Second  edition,  which  has  some  additions.) 

*  About  Etching.     By  Seymour  Haden.     Illustrated  with  an  original  etch- 

ing by  Mr.  Haden.  and  fourteen  facsimiles  from  his  collection.  Imperial 
4to.     London,  The  Fine  Art  Society,  1879. 

C.     Catalogues  of  the  Works  of  the  Artists. 

(a.)     DICTIONARIES. 

Le  peintre-graveur, -ç-àx  KxiKfA  Bartsch.  Vienne,  1803-1821.  21  vol.  in -8 
et  un  atlas  in  -4. 

*  Le  peintre-graveur.     Par  J.  D.  Passavant.     Leipzig,  i860.     6  vols.  Svo. 

(Continuation  of  Bartsch's  work.) 


■jZ  LIST    OF    WORKS    ON    THE 

Le  peintre-graveur  français,  .  .  .  par  Robert  Dumesnil.  Paris,  1835- 
1874.     II  vol.  in  -8. 

Le  peintre-graveur  français  continué,  par  Prosper  de  Beaudicour. 
Paris,  1859.     2  vol.  in  -8. 

*  Le  peintre-graveur  hollandais  et  flamand.     Par  J.  P.  van  der  Kellen. 

Utrecht,  1866.     4to.     (Continuation  of  Bartsch's  work.) 

*  Le  peintre-graveur  hollandais  et  belge  du  XIX'  siècle.     Par  T.  Hippert 

et  Jos.  LiNNiG.     Bruxelle,  1874  (first  vol.)  et  seq.     8vo. 

*  Der  deutsche  Peintre-graveur.    Von  A.  Andresen.     Leipzig,  1864,  et  seq. 

5  vols.  8vo. 

*  Die  Malerradirer  des  19.  Jahrhunderts.     Von   A.  Andresen.     Leipzig, 

1866-1870.     4  vols.  8vo. 

*  Die  Malerradirer  des  19.  Jahrhunderts.    V^on  J.  E.  Wessely.     Leipzig, 

1874.    8vo.     (Continuation  of  Andresen's  work.) 

(&.)     INDIVIDUAL    ARTISTS. 

Beredeneerde  catalogus  van  aile  de  prenten  van  Nicolaas   Berghem  .  .  . 
beschreven  door  Hendrick  de  Winter.     Amsterdam,  1767. 

Catalogue  de  Pœtivre  d"" Abraham  Bosse,  par  Georges  Duplessis.  Paris, 
1859.     In  -8.     (From  the  "  Revue  Universelle  des  Arts.") 

Éloge  historique  de  Callot,  par  le  P.  HussoN.     Bruxelles,  1766.     In  -4. 

A  Catalogue  and  Description  of  the  whole  of  the  Works  of  the  celebrated 
Jacques  Callot  ...  by  J.  H.  Green  (attributed  to  Claussin). 
1804.     i2mo. 

Éloge  historique  de  Callot,  par  M.  Desmaretz.     Nancy,  1828.     In  -8. 

Recherches  sur  la  vie  et  les  ouvrages  de  J.  Callot,  par  E.  Meaume.  Paris, 
i860.     2  vol.  in  -8. 

Œuvre  de  Claude  Gelée,  dit  le  Lorrain,  par  le  comte  Guillaume  de  L. 
(Leppel).  Dresde,  1806.  In  -8,  fig.  (For  the  engraved  works  of 
Claude  Lorrain,  see  also  the  "  Peintre-graveur"  of  M.  Robert  Dumesnil, 
vol.  i.,  and  the  "Cabinet  de  l'Amateur  et  de  l'Antiquaire,"  by  Eugene 
Piot,  vol.  ii.  pp.  433-466.) 

Éloge  historique  de  Claude  Gelée,  dit  le  Lorrain,  par  J.  P.  Voiart.  Nancy, 
1839.     In  -8. 

A  Description  of  the  Works  of  the  ingenious  Delineator  and  Engraver, 
Wenceslaus  Hollar,  disposed  into  Classes  of  different  Sorts  ;  with 
some  Account  of  his  Life.     By  G.  Vertue.    London,  1745.    4to.     Portr 

De  la  gravure  à  Veau- for  te  et  des  eaux  fortes  de  Charles  facque.  By 
Charles  Blanc.  In  tlic  '-Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,"  vol.  ix.  p.  193 
et  seq. 


PRACTICE   AND    HISTORY   OF    ETCHING.  79 

Les  Johannot,  par  M.  Ch.  Lenormant.  Paris  (1858).  In  -8.  (From 
Michaud's  "Biographie  universelle.") 

*  Essay  on  Méryon,  and  a  Catalogue  of  his  Works,  by  Frederic  Wed- 

more.  London,  Thibaudeau,  1879.  (Announced  as  about  to  be  pub- 
lished.) See  also  Méryon  and  Méryon''s  Paris,  by  F.  Wedmore,  in  the 
"Nineteenth  Century,"  for  May,  1878. 

*  P.  Biirty's  Catalogtie  of  the  Etchings  of  Méryon,  revised  from  the  Cata- 

logue in  the  "  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts,"  and  translated  by  Mr.  M.  B. 
HuiSH,  is  announced  to  be  published  by  the  London  Fine-Art  Society. 

M'  0''Connen,  Meissonier,  Millet,  Méryon,  Seymour  Haden.  Articles  on 
these  etchers  by  Philippe  Burty  in  the  "  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts." 

Catalogue  raisonné  des  estampes  gravées  à  l'eau-forte  par  Guido  Reni,  par 
Adam  Bartsch.     Vienne,  1795-     In -8. 

Catalogue  raisonné  de  toutes  les  estampes  qui  forment  l'œuvre  de  Retn- 
brandt, .  .  .  par  Adam  Bartsch.     Vienne,  1797.     2  vol.  in  -8. 

A  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Prints  of  Re/nbrandt,  by  an  Amateur  (Wil- 
son).    London,  1836.     In  -8. 

Rembrandt  and  his  Works,  ...  by  John  Burnet.    London,  1859.  4to.    111. 

Re/nbrandt.  Discours  sur  sa  vie  et  son  génie,  avec  un  grand  nombre  de 
documents  historiques,  par  le  Dr.  P.  Scheltema,  traduit  par  A.  WiL- 
LEMS.  Revu  et  annoté  par  W.  Burger.  Bruxelles,  1859.  In  -8. 
(From  the  "  Revue  universelle  des  Arts.") 

L'Œuvre  complet  de  Rembrandt,  remarquablement  décrit  et  commenté  par 
Charles  Blanc.     Paris,  1859.     3  ^o'-  'i^  -^• 

*  Rembrandt  Harmens  van  Rijn.     Ses  précurseurs  et  ses  années  d'appren- 

tissage.    Par  C.  Vosmaer.     La  Haye,  Nijhoff,  1863. 

*  Rembrandt  Harmens  van  Rijn.     Sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres.    Par  C.  Vosmaer. 

La  Haye,  Nijhoff,  1868.  (A  second,  revised  edition  appeared  some  years 
ago.) 

*  The  Etched  Works  of  Rembrandt.   A  Monograph.    By  Francis  Seymour 

Haden.  With  three  plates  and  appendix.  London,  Macmillan,  1879. 
Medium  8vo. 

*  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Etched  Works  of  Rembrandt  van  Rhyn.    With 

Life  and    Introduction.     By  C.  H.  Middleton.     Royal  8vo.     London, 
1879- 
Pictorial  Notices j  consisting  of  a  Memoir  of  Sir  Anthony  van  Dyck,  with  a 
Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Etchings  executed  by  him.  ...  By  William 
Hookham  Carpenter.     London,  1844.     4to.     Portrait. 

*  The  Works  of  the  American  Etchers.     In  the  "American  Art  Review." 


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